Wolves of Remnant
by Old Wolf Logan
Summary: In the closing years of the 41st millennium, the Emperor of Man has lost yet another son. This cannot stand. It will not stand. The Emperor WILL save his son, ensure his survival, whatever it takes, even if it means losing him all over again.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, my beautiful readers! This is the Old Wolf bringing you a little something I wanted to try out ever since reading Prim-arc by vixvix.**

**If you have read my flagship story, RWBY Watches Classic Movies, then you may have figured out by now that I am a huge fan of Warhammer 40k and the Space Wolves in particular. I mean, my very name should have been a clue. This is essentially my take on vixvix's idea of a Primarch reborn in the body of Jaune Arc, so be sure to visit the original work, it is great.**

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 1 (Pilot)

Location: Imperial Palace, Terra, Sol System

Year: 999.M41

The Emperor of Mankind sat immobile on his Golden Throne, as he did most days. Though today would turn out to be different from the rest. On this day, all of Terra would be engulfed by massive downpours of rain. Rain caused by the sadness of their Master.

For the Master of Mankind knew he had lost yet another loyal son.

Of the nine Primarchs who remained loyal to him after Horus's betrayal, he knew the locations of four. One could say five, but really, Corvus was more a Chaotic mutation than he was a Primarch nowadays. His beloved son Sanguinius and his brother Ferrus had perished during the course of the Heresy, while Rogal had perished in combat during one of the Black Crusades led by Horus' petulant First Captain, and Vulkan was assumed killed fighting the Beast on Ullanor, though the Emperor suspected Vulkan may yet live. He was, after all, a perpetual.

Of the four who lived, the situation was not ideal. Guilliman was being held in stasis by his sons on Macragge. Lion was deeply comatose, but kept safely- though unwittingly- guarded by his sons deep within the Rock and he was fairly certain Jaghatai was causing no end of havoc within the Webway. The fourth was Leman Russ. Wild, uncontrollable Leman, who had set off into the Warp to find a way to cure his father and died in the attempt.

As the skies of Terra wept, so too did the Emperor. As his Custodian- thankfully the Captain-General and not one of his... other Companions- collected his tears, he formulated his plans. He would not allow the loss of another son. Leman would live on, ironically reborn in the same way he was lost all those millennia ago. But this time, he would not be alone. Not if the Emperor had anything to say about it.

XX

Location: Village of Attika, Sanus, Lost Colonial World of Remnant, Wilderness Space

Year: 1991

August 13, 1991 was a joyous day for the Arcs. Not only did it see the birth of yet more children for the ever-growing Arc family, but it saw the birth of their first son, Jaune, and his twin sister, Joan.

Raised by loving parents, Joseph and Suzie, and with the companionship of three older sisters- four if you count Joan, who was technically older by mere minutes- and three younger sisters, the twins' childhoods were happy indeed.

The town they grew up in was a mid-sized and well-defended port town on the east coast of Sanus. Theirs was a well-respected family with a long list of soldiers and hunters who made a name for themselves in the defense of, not only the town, but the Kingdom of Vale as well. Even their mother was a respected Huntress. They were told the stories of these great warriors by their grandfather, Johnathan. The twins were always the ones most enraptured by these stories and by the age of twelve knew what they wanted: Joan wanted to be a captain of the town's militia, while Jaune dreamt of becoming a Huntsman.

And so, they spent their days, or whatever time they could spare, training themselves as best they could. Their family wasn't poor by any means, but they still lacked the funds for a proper combat school, so the two were mostly self-taught, with Joan becoming proficient with a spear and Jaune at least having the basics of the sword and shield down.

But Jaune was plagued by doubt. He knew Joan was a better fighter than him, and he also knew she was smarter. If she wanted to, she could get into Beacon, even without combat school training. He on the other hand, was a novice fighter and an above-average student at best. There was no way he was getting into Beacon.

And that is what he believed, until one day when his family made a trip into Vale. They were all celebrating Joan's induction into the militia and he was moping about the streets of Vale, lamenting his crushed dreams. And then, he met a man by the name of Greco. Really weird guy; white trench coat, orange hair, eye liner, creepy mute girl tagalong, but he was offering the deal of a lifetime: Glowing transcripts to Beacon in exchange for the promise of a favor somewhere down the line. No idea what kind of favor, merely the assurance that one day he would collect.

Jaune took the offer without a second thought.

The next day, he transmitted his newly acquired transcripts to Beacon and the waiting game began. It was agonizing. He listened in on the kids he knew were also applying to Beacon to see when their results came in. It never came up.

Weeks turned into months. He began to think the headmaster or whoever checked out the transcripts had seen through them, that they were contacting his parents. He imagined the world of hurt his mother was going to put him through when she found out. He wasn't going to sit right for a week!

And then, one morning, he was awoken by a ping from his scroll. It was an email from Beacon. He got in! He had been accepted to Beacon Academy! He woke up the entire house with his cheering. After the congratulations from each of his sisters still at home- Saphron having moved to Argus a few years before- they all ganged up and wailed on him for interrupting their sleep.

The day before orientation, they all saw him off at the airport with all the love and support in the world. His goodbye with Joan was particularly hard. The two had been nigh inseparable their entire lives. They were better together than they were apart- each one made the other better with their mere presence. The schools had even granted them special dispensation to be in all the same classes when they noticed their usually stellar grades slipping when they entered middle school and were no longer together. But part they now had to do.

When he arrived at his hotel that night in Vale, he received a message from Joan.

_I know what you did._

_I know what you did and I understand. This is your dream and nothing should keep you from it. Do what you have to do, but, please, try to keep it legal. Otherwise, I will hunt you down and beat you myself before dragging you back home and throwing you to Mom. Be safe, make friends, and be a great Huntsman._

Jaune smiled, glad that he at least didn't have to keep it secret from her. Then he received another message.

_And maybe lose that V-Card while you're at it, yeah? Get a girlfriend already!_

Aaand there was the follow-up. Typical Joan.

* * *

**And there you have it. Please keep in mind this only a pilot, not a guarantee of future chapters. That is entirely up to you guys.**

**It's also a way for me to prove I am not just sitting around playing video games while I'm taking a break from RWBY Watches.**

**If you want to see more of this, leave a Follow it, Favorite it, and please, leave a Review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welp, I'm glad to see you all liked this story. Hell, even the author who inspired it is reading while 30 followers in one week is not as big as what I got with RWBY Watches, it sounds acceptable for the pilot chapter of a crossover fic.  
**

**Now, by no means does the posting of this chapter mean this will become a weekly thing. I have nowhere near enough skill, free time, and willpower to do that with two stories. Pretty much, when I finish the chapter, it goes up. Think of this as a control to last week's test.**

**Also, for those hoping for a Lancaster pairing, you are, unfortunately out of luck. I had this planned for Arkos, and it will stay as such.**

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 2

Jaune regretted everything he had done in the last twenty-four hours.

Yesterday had started out alright. He had a good breakfast, compliments of the hotel as a potential Beacon student. Bacon, eggs, sausage, OJ, the works. On the Bullhead, his nerves had caught up to him and he had nearly spewed his guts out on the shoes of this super-hot blonde bombshell. Thankfully, he managed to keep it down until the ship landed and he found a trash can. He regretted that.

Then, once he had deposited the majority of his breakfast in said can, he heard a small explosion coming from the school's courtyard. When he arrived, he saw a girl in a gothic lolita outfit and a red cape laying in a crater, looking pretty down on herself. She was cute, in a little-sisterly kind of way, and he decided to help her up. They got to talking while trying to find the meeting place and he felt like he had made a friend on his first day at Beacon. Unfortunately, Ruby had been called off by her older sister and he was left to attend orientation by himself. He regretted that a little less.

Then, he was forced to endure taunting from the other guys and some of the girls when he revealed his pajamas for the evening; his favorite blue onesie with rabbit head feet. It wasn't his fault it was all he had on hand! He knew he had packed plenty of sleep t-shirts and scrub pants that he usually wore to bed. One of his sisters must have swapped them out at the last minute for three sets of different onesies, Tanya most likely. That little devil. He regretted that as well, and silently swore vengeance on her the next time he saw her.

The next day was the worst of all. First, he forgot where he had stored his weapons the previous day. Then, he tried to flirt with this really pretty white-haired girl, trying to talk her into being on a team with him. He figured she would put up a front of disinterest- Dad said all girls who actually liked you did at first, and only confidence and persistence would impress them- and she did, so he kept at it, ignoring the even prettier redhead, Pyrrha, his Snow Angel had called her. It wasn't until she was revealed as a mascot for Pumpkin Pete's that he recognized her. The whole situation ended with him pinned to a locker, Weiss walking away all snooty-like and Pyrrha apologizing. He regretted both of those things.

And then came the coup de grace, the one thing that made him do all this regretting and how he found himself in this situation to begin with. They had all been led onto a cliff and told to stand on 1'x1' metal squares as Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin explained their initiation. They were given the task of retrieving a relic from a temple within the Emerald Forest. Teams would be decided on that day and partners would be decided in the field via the first person you came into eye contact with. Then, they were literally launched into the forest with no warning whatsoever.

So yeah, barely one full day in Beacon and Jaune was going to fall to his death. He saw the ground growing closer and he started cursing everyone he could think of that let him be in this mess. That Greco guy, Goodwitch and Ozpin, the Bullhead pilots, the hotel staff, himself most of all, but not Joan. Never Joan. She had been supportive of him, but she was also the only one to really question him. She balanced him, and he could never blame his other half for anything-

He suddenly felt a massive force catch him by the neck and pull him sideways into the canopy. He didn't get a great look at it, but he knew it was fast and red. The next thing he knew, he was pinned to a tree, being held up by his hoodie. He looked up and saw a familiar red and bronze spear, the same one that had pinned him to a locker just an hour previously.

"Thank you!" he yelled out, having a good idea who had saved his life.

"I'm sorry!" he heard a feminine voice yell out.

"Rule 6." He muttered to himself as he assessed his situation.

He could already feel the circulation to his brain being cut off, so alleviating that was priority one. Thankfully, the spear was in easy reach, so he just grabbed it and pulled himself up enough so that his blood could flow freely. Now he had to work on dislodging the thing holding him up. It wasn't much of a drop, maybe five feet or so, he would be fine so long as he landed on his feet. Or his ass. Definitely hoping for the former.

He tried to pull the spear free, but it barely budged. The damn thing was in there good and proper. Then again, his position wasn't exactly helpful. If he was actually facing the tree, he could at least plant his feet on it and use it for leverage. As he stood- or hung, whichever you prefer- that was much less effective an option.

He struggled for several minutes to pry the spear from the tree when he heard rustling in the bushes. He looked up to see Weiss emerge.

'This is perfect!' he thought, 'She can help me get out of this tree, and I can apologize to her about earlier and prove myself as her partner!'

And that was his plan, up until she immediately turned around and headed the other way.

"You came back!" he heard Ruby cry and he put the pieces together. She had seen Ruby first and abandoned her in search of a better partner. But when presented with the choice of either himself or Ruby, she chose the lesser of two bad choices.

"Hey, wait!" he called after the duo, "Who's gonna get me down from here?"

"Jaune?" he heard below him. He looked down to see Pyrrha standing before him, her arms crossed over her stomach. "Do you have any spots left on your team?" she said with a grin.

"Very funny." He said turning his head away, half out of comedic drama, half to hide the blush creeping up his face. He didn't know if Pyrrha was doing it on purpose, but the way she was standing, combined with the height he was at, allowed him to see right down her corset. And he kinda liked what he saw. "But if you help me down, I'm pretty sure there's something I can do." He said, making eye contact with her to make it official and doing his level best to not look at the amount of cleavage that was on display.

XXX

Pyrrha was over the moon!

The one thing she wanted out of Beacon, aside from getting her Huntress career started, was a fresh start away from her fame. To be treated as any other 17-year-old girl would be treated. She had felt that dream slip away as soon as she stepped onto the Bullhead and was bombarded by fans from all over. She managed to give them the slip and remain relatively unnoticed during orientation and found a secluded corner of the ballroom to sleep in, but then she had been cornered by Weiss Schnee, who proceeded to give her little proposal about being teammates.

And then, _he_ stepped in.

He was by no means bad looking. Six feet of blonde hair with blue eyes, dressed in minimal armor, jeans, a hoodie and skater shoes that were probably in style where he came from, Pyrrha found him rather attractive, in a dorky kind of way. But the best part was the absolute ignorance he showed towards her. For every one of her accomplishments Weiss informed him of, he was completely clueless up until she mentioned the Pumpkin Pete's promo. _That_ was when he recognized her.

And it was at about that time she knew that she had to be his partner. He was the best-case scenario, if not on a combat or academic level, then on a personal level. He was someone who could treat her equally, if given the chance, all she had to do was ensure they became a team.

The fact that she succeeded was why she couldn't stop smiling as the pair trekked through the forest on their way to the temple. Somehow, through all his flailing in the air, Jaune had managed to catch a glimpse of some ruins in a clearing deeper in the forest. Pyrrha had seen it too, though her attentions were mostly on Jaune, so they decided to go for it.

After a few minutes, Jaune stopped her.

"You hear that?" he said looking back towards the cliffs.

She nodded. "Gunfire. It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy."

"Probably best to carry on then." He reasoned. She agreed and continued to lead the way. She used her shield to brush aside a branch in her way, assuming it would break at some point. However, the little bastard was more flexible than she thought and swung back after she moved her shield, hitting Jaune in the face and knocking him on his ass.

"I'm sorry!" she winced.

"It's okay." Jaune chuckled, dusting himself off, "Just a scratch."

Pyrrha frowned when she saw the red mark on his face. "Jaune, why didn't you activate your Aura?"

"Huh?"

"Your Aura." She repeated.

"Gesundheit." He answered

"Jaune, do you know what Aura is?"

"Pfft, of course I do." He scoffed, trying to sound cool "Do you know what Aura is?"

Pyrrha smiled seeing right through his little façade, though the fact that he didn't troubled her greatly. "Aura is the manifestation of our soul." She explained, "It bears our burdens and shields our hearts." Seeing that he wasn't quite getting it, she tried another route. "Have you ever felt like you were being watched without knowing someone was there?"

"Uh, yeah." He answered honestly.

"With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals."

"What about monsters?"

"No. the monsters we fight lack a soul. They are creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity. They are the darkness and we are the light."

"Right, and that's why we fight them."

"It's not about why, it's about knowing. Understanding both dark and light helps us manifest our Aura." Pyrrha really wished everything she had learned about Aura wasn't so philosophical. It made these kinds of explanations more difficult than they needed to be, even if it did make them sound more romantic. "Everyone has some of both. By bearing your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. You project yourself and your soul when fighting."

Jaune snapped his fingers in understanding. "It's like a force field!"

"Yes." Pyrrha said, holding in her giggling. "If you want to look at it that way. Now, close your eyes and concentrate."

"Uh, okay…" he said as she cupped one of his cheeks and placed a hand on his chest.

"_For it is in passing that we achieve immortality…"_

XX

Location: The Fang, Asaheim, Fenris

Year: 108.M42

Logan Grimnar jolted awake from his slumber, the first time he had done so in over 700 years of service to the Imperium. He had dreamt. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he'd had a dream.

He had dreamt of a blonde boy and a fire-haired girl standing in a forest. The image itself was not unpleasant to him, but the words the female spoke, the words were what stuck with him.

"_For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."_

Those words had been ingrained in his mind. And once she had finished, it had begun to snow. The warm sunny day was turned into a near replica of a typical Fenrisian biosphere and he could hear wolves howling in the distance.

"Bondsman! Fetch Ulrik and Stormcaller, immediately!" he barked into the nearby vox.

"As you say, my lord." The mortal replied.

Logan was concerned. This dream… it was too real to be a dream. It was like he was physically there, watching the scene play out before him. And those words. Why could he not erase them from his mind? Maybe those more spiritually or psychically gifted than he would have more answers.

* * *

**Aaaaand done! I tell ya, this and the next chapter were fun and easier to write than I initially thought.**

**And yes, this story is taking place after the Indomitus Crusade. Oddly enough, the Space Wolves have never had an actual Successor chapter after what happened to the Wolf Brothers. At least not until the Wolfspear was created. expect to hear from them at some point as well**

**Be sure to Follow, Favorite and leave a Review, and I will catch you later.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys. Glad to see you're all liking the story so far. There has be one guest reviewer who has been asking the same question repeatedly, but his review never shows up for some reason, so I'll answer it here. No, Jaune will not have the ability to command Beowolves, at least not in canon.**

**In this chapter, we see the end of the initiation arc, and little bits of Leman's personality and abilities come to the fore.**

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 3

Pyrrha squawked as she fell forward, her ankle blazing with pain.

"Pyr!" Jaune said, running up to and kneeling next to her. "You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she assured him, picking up the torch she had dropped. She winced as he delicately handled her ankle. "It's just a sprain. Nothing I can't- " she looked up at him. "What did you just call me?"

"What, Pyr? I just figured it would be easier to call you that. Guessing it's too soon for nicknames?"

"No, no, it's fine." She said, shaking her head. Secretly, she was elated. They had known each other for all of ten minutes and they had already reached nicknames! This was going better than she had thought. "Give me a minute here. My Aura can take care of this no problem." She quickly flooded the injured body part with Aura and immediately felt the pain lessening.

"We might want to get you some boots for working in rough terrain." Jaune said, standing so that he could help her up. "Don't get me wrong, the heels really help bring the look together, but they aren't really practical for this. Maybe if we were still out in the forest, but not in a cave."

"Fair point." Pyrrha conceded. "I've spent most of my life in the flat stages of the arena, so it was never a problem I considered. And speaking of the cave," she took his hand and let him help her up, "How have you not tripped over anything? I have a torch and can't even see two feet in front of me, yet you have been leading us surefootedly since we found this place."

"Is it really that dark in here?" he asked, looking around in bewilderment, "It looks bright as day to me. In fact, I was wondering why you made a torch in the first place." Pyrrha looked at him in astonishment as he continued to lead on. "Maybe it was you unlocking my Aura? You did say it could be used to boost certain aspects of our bodies."

"No, it doesn't work like that." Pyrrha said, keeping her head facing down enough that she could avoid any further accidents, while also making sure she didn't run into Jaune, "Yes, you can use your Aura to increase the strength of your attacks or the durability of your body, but it doesn't automatically give you night vision." Though maybe it was possible she had accidentally unlocked some kind of passive Semblance that gave him night vision. Honestly, she wasn't sure.

"In any case, we should push forward." Jaune said, "I know it was my idea to come in here, but there's something about this place that I mislike." They continued for a few more minutes until they came across a glowing object in the darkness. "I think that's it!" Jaune said grabbing for what he assumed was the relic only for it to pull back out of his reach. "What the? C'mere you little- " Jaune leapt at the object, grabbing hold of it only to be lifted bodily off the ground.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha said.

Red glowing eyes appeared before him and Jaune summarized his thoughts quite succinctly. "Aw, crapbaskets."

A few seconds later, Pyrrha ran out of the cave, spear in hand and followed shortly thereafter by a massive Deathstalker that obliterated the cave entrance, Jaune hanging onto its' stinger for dear life.

"Pyrrha!" he cried, "This is not the relic! It's not! I think I done fucked uuuuuuuuu…" was all he could say before the Deathstalker threw him.

Pyrrha watched as he (quite literally) screamed through the air past her. She turned back to the massive Grimm. 'Nope!' she thought as she immediately embraced the phrase GTFO and ran in the direction Jaune had gone.

XX

"Head's uuuuuuu- !" Ruby cried as she fell only to be cut off when Jaune impacted into her and redirected her path into a tree. Her head spun once she ceased moving, seeing stars and little Zweis at the same time. "Ugh, what happened?" she groaned.

"Been asking myself that all day." She heard a familiar voice say. She shook her head to clear the cobwebs, looked up and saw Jaune hanging upside down in front of her. "Hey, Ruby." He said weakly. Before she could respond to her first friend, an explosion came from their right and they saw an Ursa break the tree line and crumple over dead, a blur of pink and orange rolling off with it. The blur resolved into the form of an orange-haired girl in white and pink, followed closely behind by a raven-haired boy in green. In the blink of an eye, the pink girl was at the temple picking up a relic and singing a little song.

"NORA!" the boy in green yelled.

"Coming, Ren!" Nora called back with a giggle.

After that resolved, Pyrrha broke the tree line from the left with the Deathstalker hot on her tail.

"Jaune!" she yelled out desperately.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune said, trying to right himself without falling out of the tree.

"Woah!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping out of the tree.

As Jaune managed to free himself and land on the branch Ruby had just been standing on, the hot blonde he found out was her sister (and by bro-code law was thus off-limits until told otherwise) exploded, her hair catching fire and her eyes turning red.

"I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!" she yelled.

Jaune was about to jump down when he saw Weiss falling, this time without a landing strategy. His body moved before he could finish his plan, leaping out to catch the white-haired maiden.

"Just dropping in?" he said with what he called a winning smile as he caught her bridal style. Then he looked down. "Ah, shit." Weiss wrapped her arms around his neck while he tried to fold into the fetal position. Somehow, they managed to land with him face down in the dirt and her sitting on his back.

"My hero." She drawled.

"My back…" he groaned. As he picked himself up, he saw Ren and Nora helping up his partner. "Pyrrha!" he jumped up so quickly he accidentally hit Weiss's butt with his own. He didn't care, however. All his concern on Pyrrha. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, it was all my fault."

"Jaune, I'm okay. Just a little winded if anything." She assured him.

He stood and offered her a hand back to her feet. He looked to Ren and Nora. "Thank you for helping her."

"It was nothing." Ren said with a small bow.

"Us newbies gotta stick together, right?" Nora said with an infectious grin.

"You are so childish!" they heard Weiss say loudly. They turned around to find Ruby trapped in a veritable forest of black feathers, and the Deathstalker's stinger a mere foot from her face, trapped in ice.

"Wow, Weiss did that?" Jaune said, wide-eyed.

"Perfect Dust control. As expected of a Schnee." The raven-haired girl with the bow on her head said with not a little bit of venom. Jaune ignored it, questions for later. Instead, he looked around to get a better look at the situation. His eyes were immediately drawn to the Nevermore above.

"Guys, looks like Big Bird is circling back." He told them.

"Well, there's no sense in dilly-dallying." Weiss said, "Our objective is right in front of us."

"She's right." Ruby agreed. "Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the cliffs. There's no point fighting these things."

"Alright. That's a plan I can get behind." He and Ruby stepped up to the relics and took different ones; him a golden rook, her a golden knight. They turned at the sound of the ice wall holding the Deathstalker beginning to crack. He frowned and put the relic in his back pocket. "Ruby, there's a ruined temple about half a mile to the northwest. You, Weiss, your sister and her partner draw the Nevermore there. We'll handle Bug Boy here."

"You sure?" Ruby asked, pocketing her own relic.

"Deadly." Jaune said, drawing his sword from its' shield-sheathe, "Besides, me and Pyrrha got a score to settle with this one."

"Alright, c'mon guys!" Ruby called.

"Pyr, can you fight?" Jaune asked his partner.

"They wouldn't call me the Invincible Girl if I couldn't get back up after being knocked down." She said, shifting Milo into sword mode.

"Oh, so you're _that _Pyrrha Nikos?" Nora asked innocently, "Neat."

"Do you really think we can take that thing?" Ren asked as Pyrrha looked at Nora bewildered.

"My grandpa had a saying." Jaune said, "He said, 'Everything has a weakness. Some bastards just make you work to find 'em first.' I'd say that applies in this case."

"Okay, so do you have a strategy beyond hit it 'till it dies?"

"Go for joints and any gaps between the plates."

"And don't die." Nora added with a grin.

"Yeah, that too." Jaune said. "Go!"

As one, they charged the Deathstalker head-on. It swung one claw, but Pyrrha parried it with her shield and quickly countered. It swung the other, but Jaune took it on his shield, holding it long enough for Pyrrha to land the counter. Seeing she had taken over this claw, Jaune turned to the other, thus clearing the way for Ren, who opened up on it with his machine pistols. The Deathstalker responded by thrusting its stinger at him, but Ren dodged and leapt onto the tail. He held tight as it pulled back and he opened up on the point where tail met stinger.

"Incoming!" Nora yelled as she brought her grenade launcher to bear, firing off two rounds. Jaune and Pyrrha jumped back, using the force of the small explosions to propel them farther. Jaune fell on his back, but Pyrrha rolled through, changing Milo to spear form and using the hidden rifle to drive it into one of the Deathstalker's eyes. It roared in pain and thrashed about. Ren was unprepared for the sudden movement, and was thrown from the tail into a tree.

Jaune groaned and he recovered to one knee and saw the stinger practically hanging from the tail.

"Pyrrha!" he ordered, an idea coming to him. "The stinger!"

"On it!" she said, throwing her shield and using her Semblance to subtly direct it to cut the stinger from the tail, which fell and drove into the thick armor plates on the beast's back.

"Nora, nail it!" he ordered again when Pyrrha's shield returned to her arm.

"Heads up!" the orangette said as she ran at Pyrrha, shifting her weapon to hammer mode and jumping on Pyrrha's shield. The redhead channeled her Aura into her arms and legs and jumped, pushing her shield upwards as Nora fired her hammer to gain additional height. The pink bomber laughed airily as she crested her jump and fired again, spinning vertically to gain extra momentum and power before hitting the stinger as though it were merely one huge nail and killing the gigantic scorpion Grimm.

"See? Told ya we could do it." Jaune said as Ren collapsed next to Nora.

"Should we assist Ruby's group?" Pyrrha asked.

"I think they're good." Nora said with a grin. Jaune and Pyrrha looked to her and saw she was staring past them. They followed her gaze to see a red streak leading a very unwilling Nevermore up a cliff only to be decapitated once it reached the top.

"Wow." Jaune said, honestly amazed.

XX

"- the four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces." Ozpin said to a group of four boys who stood proudly before him, "From this day forward, you shall work together as Team CRDL, led by… Cardin Winchester." The boys stepped off as Ozpin called up the next four names.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces." He paused as chants of 'Nikos! Nikos! Nikos!' filled the auditorium, making Pyrrha wilt somewhat under the spotlight. "From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR, led by…" 'Nikos! Nikos! Nikos!' "Jaune Arc."

His very name stunned everyone in the auditorium to silence. It was so quiet that one could believe that time had stopped completely. That was until one brave soul decided to break the silence.

"Fucking what?!" they said loudly, angrily.

Jaune himself thought it was a different Jaune Arc, and checked behind himself, but there was no one there. And as chants of 'Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!' filled the auditorium- only to be silenced by a fierce glare from Glynda- he looked back to Ozpin with a raised eyebrow "Seriously?"

"Congratulations, young man." Ozpin grinned before ushering them off the stage. As he announced the creation of Team RWBY- that was gonna be a headache for Ruby, he could tell already- Pyrrha laid a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her smiling face and felt something stir within him, and in the distance, he swore he could hear the howling of wolves.


	4. Chapter 4

**You know, it's amazing the things I find that I never thought I would find in a million years. So, context, I hate the movie Titanic. Absolutely hate it. Additionally, I hate that God awful Celine Dion song from it "My Heart Will Go On", which is no surprise really. Even Celine Dion herself admits that she hates that song as well. As of yesterday, though, I found a version I actually do like. It's a cover by famous power metal band DragonForce.**

**Literally, I was scrolling through YouTube yesterday and saw it. First reaction: no fucking way. Upon listening, I'm laughing my ass off, cuz I actually like it.**

* * *

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 4

Later that evening, the newly minted Team JNPR had finished moving their belongings into their new dorm, unlike Team RWBY, who had collapsed on their beds approximately thirty seconds after arrival. They had moved their clothes into their dressers, worked out a bathroom schedule (Jaune and Ren agreed, based years of experience, that Pyrrha and Nora would get first dibs on the shower), and had settled on the floor in their pajamas, relaxing before they headed to bed.

"So, what now?" Nora asked, dressed in a grey t-shirt emblazoned with the word 'boop' on it and pink shorts covered in white thunderbolts.

"Well, I think we should get to know each other better." Pyrrha offered as she sat down after closing the curtains. She had let her hair down, and wore a white tank top that said 'Sanctum' on it along with red shorts trimmed with bronze.

"I agree, but wouldn't that be somewhat awkward?" Ren asked, sat cross-legged next to Nora in oriental-looking green, black and pink pajamas.

"Oh, I got an idea!" Jaune said, moving to his dresser.

"No offense, fearless leader," Nora said, holding back giggles, "But it's kinda hard to take you seriously right now considering what you're wearing."

"I told you, this isn't my fault." He said, motioning to his onesie, "I swear to the Gods, Tanya, when I get my hands on you- ah, found it." He came back to his seat, holding a deck of cards.

"You'd best start explaining real quick, Jaune." Nora said with a teasing glare.

"Don't worry, it's not what you think." Jaune assured them, "I call it information poker. It plays the same as regular hold 'em poker, except, instead of cash, the winner gets to ask one person of their choice any question they want, within reason. If the question is too personal, the target can choose not to answer, and the winner must respect that choice. Sound good?"

"Sure! Deal me in!"

"It sounds grand." Pyrrha agreed, while Ren simply nodded.

With practiced ease, Jaune dealt the cards and smiled at the pocket 10s he got.

XX

That same time, Ozpin's office

"Ozpin, may I have a word?" Glynda Goodwitch said, standing in the doorway to Ozpin's tower-top office.

"Of course, Glynda. Come in. Coffee?"

"No, thank you. I plan on being well-rested for classes tomorrow, and your 'special brew' wouldn't exactly help."

Drat. Oh well, next time he would get her for sure. "Very well. How can I help you?"

"I wished to speak to you regarding Mr. Arc."

"What about him?" Ozpin asked as he took a sip from his mug.

"Specifically, the reason you even let him into the school."

Ozpin could already feel the headache coming on and wished he had whatever Qrow kept in that flask of his to add to his coffee. "Explain."

"Ozpin, we both saw his transcripts, and we both know they were too good to be true. They were clearly forged."

Ozpin sighed, put his mug down and steepled his hands. "Glynda, the way I see things, there are two possible scenarios here. On the one hand, his transcripts could be forged. This could mean one of two further things: one, he is one of Her agents, obviously sent to this school as an infiltrator, or two, there is someone out there who is capable of making near perfect replicas of combat school transcripts. Either way, the best approach is to keep him close and learn whatever we can from him."

"And the second scenario?"

"His transcripts are genuine, and his skills are real, in which case, it would be prudent of us to encourage his development and win his loyalty. If his potential has yet to be realized, think of how great an asset he would be against Her."

Glynda looked unconvinced. "It's a dangerous game to play, Ozpin."

"As is life, Glynda. As is life."

XX

"How? How is that even possible?" Jaune cried when Nora revealed her fourth straight royal flush. "This is a brand-new deck! The odds of this happening are astronomical."

"Why do you think I always fold at the river?" Ren said with a small grin. "When Nora wants something, she usually gets it. I'm just lucky we already know everything about each other, thus sparing me some embarrassment."

Jaune glared at him as Nora flipped a coin to choose her next target.

XX

The Fang, Fenris

Great Wolf Logan Grimnar sat at the head of a table, surrounded by his assembled Wolf Lords, or those who remained on-planet at the least. A few had been deployed to reinforce rebellious planets within the Space Wolves domain. As well as the Wolf Lords, the Priesthoods of the Chapter were also represented by Ulrik the Slayer, Njal Stormcaller, and Hrothgar Stormfang.

"Brothers," Logan intoned, "We gather here to discuss a matter close to the heart of our Chapter. Before I begin, I will declare that what is discussed here will remain between those assembled here. No one else can know, especially those outside the Chapter. Is this understood?" The Wolf Lords nodded and muttered their assent, wondering what in the Warp could instill such paranoia into their Old Wolf. "Very well. Brothers, I have had a vision. Three nights hence, I dreamt of a place I have never seen in all my centuries fighting. The details are hazy, but there is one thing I remember clear as day; a poem, of a sort. For it is in passing that we achieve immortality."

"Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all else." Ragnar Blackmane said, wide-eyed.

"Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul- " Vorek Gnarlfist, the newest of the Wolf Lords, continued.

"And by my shoulder, protect thee." Grimnar finished. "It appears, you were correct, Stormcaller."

"Indeed, my Lord." Njal Stormcaller said, standing before the assembled leaders. "Allow me to clarify, you have all heard these words in recent days?" More nods. Njal sat back down. "There it is, then. My lord, if these words are known by every Wolf Lord in this room, it stands to reason that it could extend to every member of the Chapter."

"Perhaps, even, every Astartes of Space Wolf heritage." Ulrik posited.

"What are you talking about? What is going on?" Bjorn Stormwolf asked impatiently.

"My brothers, we believe something tremendous has happened. After consulting with my Wolf Priests, and Stormcaller's Rune Priests, we believe another Primarch has returned to the galaxy. We believe the Great Wolf has returned."

The Wolf Lords were stunned to silence.

"You see now, why we must keep this matter close." Grimnar said, "This involves our Primarch, our gene-father. No other Imperial organization has a right to meddle in this, not even the Lord Commander Guilliman."

"But if one of his brothers has returned, should he not be informed?" Gnarlfist asked.

"Not until we have confirmation of his location and identity."

"And what of the Wolfspear?" Blackmane added. "High Priest Ulrik suggested that every Astartes of Space Wolf heritage might have experienced this. Primaris Astartes or no, they are our successors as Sons of Russ. This concerns them as well."

"If they wish to involve themselves, that is their prerogative." Grimnar decided, "However, it matters little right now. What does matter is what we shall do next."

"We find our Primarch, obviously!" Stormwolf said, pounding his fist on the table they sat at.

"Obviously, but how to go about it?" Erik Morkai said, "We cannot simply send the entire Chapter out into the galaxy."

"And why not? We have done so for millennia." Bran Redmaw argued.

"In better times, yes. But the galaxy has changed. The Imperium is ruled over by a Primarch who literally wrote the book on how to be an Astartes. Sending all but one company out into the depths of space would appear suspicious."

"Then it is good that we have a plan." Grimnar grinned. "Stormcaller?"

"Shortly after meeting with the Great Wolf, my Rune Priests and I discovered what I can only call a signal within the Warp emanating from beyond the Western Fringes of Imperial Space. After consulting with the Navis Nobilitae, we hypothesize that it is possible that we will find our Father if we follow it."

"I will personally lead this expedition, though it must be kept small if we are to avoid the eyes of the Imperium at large, and most especially the Inquisition. Blackmane, Deathwolf, Morkai, I have chosen you and your companies to join me. Redmaw, you will act as Great Wolf in my stead."

"Yes, my lord." The Wolf Lords replied.

"Prepare yourselves and your companies, Brothers. We leave in one standard weeks' time."

* * *

**Welp, short chapter is short. We get a look at what Ozpin thinks, and a quick check in with the Wolves.**

**To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. I'm not exactly great with original stuff, so I was kinda flying by the seat of my pants writing this. Also, I'm not trying to make you guys feel like this is gonna be a weekly thing, but it's just working out like this. To be clear, this is the second to last chapter I have prepared. Once I finish the reaction dialogue for the current RWBY Watches series, I'll be putting more time into Wolves, I promise.**


	5. Chapter 5

**And we're back! A day later than the usual, but with my job, that's inevitable. Just a heads-up, from here on, the update schedule will be far more erratic, as I still have a flagship project that takes priority.**

**Today, we get an intro to Jaune's family and see a few of Leman's traits coming up to the surface.**

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 5

The Day After Beacon Initiation

Arc Home, Village of Attika, Kingdom of Vale

Joseph Arc sat at the table reading his morning paper the way he did every day. He was a bear of a man, with short-cut, greying brown hair, a thick, matching beard and sharp green eyes. His left hand was an Atlesian prosthesis, having lost it years earlier defending an Atlesian village from the Grimm. He was currently reading the financial section, having gone straight there after noticing the front page was covering some supposed scandal in Vale. Political, most likely.

He looked up when he heard footsteps coming downstairs, to see his second and third eldest, Artoria and Seras, coming down. Artoria was taller than her sister, with long blonde hair done up in her usual bun, and her father's green eyes. Seras' hair was shorter than Artoria's, about neck length, and flared out in the back, but she had her mother Suzie's blue eyes. The two were still dressed in their pajamas when they came into the dining room.

"Good morning, girls." Joseph said with a smile.

"Morning, Dad." Seras said cheerily.

"Good morning, Father." Artoria said with a smile, kissing her father on the cheek. "Anything good?"

"Hmph. Not yet." Joseph grumbled.

"May I, then?" she asked, indicating the pile of discards.

"By all means."

"Seras, can you give me a hand in here?" Suzie called from the kitchen.

"Sure thing, mum." Seras replied, standing up. "What'cha making? Smells great!"

Joan came in as she left, also in her PJs. She was about the same height as her elder sisters, maybe more, and had long blonde hair kept in a long braid behind her.

"Morning, family units." She said teasingly.

"Morning, Joan. Any news on the other three?" Joseph asked.

"Just the usual. Lucy is re-reading the next chapter of her story before she posts it, and Tanya is showing Ilya some videos in her room. I gave them a heads-up on breakfast for you."

"Thank you."

"Father, are you sure you read this section?" Artoria said. Joan frowned, she actually sounded worried.

"What? The front page? No, I skipped it. Didn't feel like reading about damned politicians and their shenanigans."

"What's up?" Joan asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Here." Artoria handed her the front section.

**Pyrrha Nikos Passed Over**

**Mistrali Champion Shafted out of Leadership Role**

"Huh, so Nikos actually went through with it, did she?" Joan had heard the rumors about the championship fighter from Mistral hanging up her gladius in favor of a Huntress career, but she never thought it would actually happen.

"Keep reading." Artoria told her, holding her head as Suzie and Seras came out of the kitchen, bearing platters of bacon, sausage, eggs and hash browns.

"Alright, everyone, dig in!" Suzie said, before turning to the stairs. "Girls! Breakfast!"

Joan spoke as she read the article.

"Four months ago, Pyrrha Nikos surprised the fighting world when she announced her intentions to quit competition fighting in order to pursue a career as a Huntress. Though her decision was met with praise, she truly shocked us when she went on to state she planned to attend Vale's Beacon Academy, rather than her home kingdom of Mistral's Haven Academy. The reasons for this decision remain unclear.

"As Beacon began its traditional initiation yesterday, many believed Ms. Nikos to be a shoo-in for a leadership position among whatever team she eventually found herself on. However, this was proven false when the four-time regional champion was passed over for an absolute unknown."

"Huh, well that must have been humbling." Seras commented as Lucy, Tanya and Ilya took seats at the table.

"Indeed." Joseph commented.

"Keep going." Artoria ordered.

"Despite the amazing feats she performed in initiation, including the assisted killing of a fully-grown Deathstalker Grimm, Beacon's Headmaster Ozpin proclaimed the leader of the team she was assigned to, known as JNPR (pronounced 'juniper'), would be Jaune Arc, 17."

"WHAT!?" the family yelled collectively.

"Unfortunately, due to privacy policies on the part of Beacon Academy, no further information about Mr. Arc could be found beyond his hometown of Attika, a moderately-sized port village on the eastern coast of Vale, southeast of the city proper. Additionally, Ms. Nikos' family and manager are offering no statements at this time, other than complete support for their daughter, her team and her friends."

"So, you're telling me that Jaune- our bumbling brother, who still forgets his right from his left occasionally- not only got into Beacon, but also survived initiation, got on a team with **the **female fighter of our generation, and was put in charge of her? Am I getting this right?" Tanya asked.

"I think so, sis." Lucy said, stunned.

Joan dropped the paper, her hands shaking. Seeing her like this, her family backed up slowly, clearing a path for her. Joan was… complicated. She was one of the kindest, most loving individuals in the family, but she also had quite the temper, especially where her twin was concerned. So, when Joan looked up, and her father and mother saw the inferno in her eyes, they knew the proper thing to do: stay out of her way.

"I'M GONNA KILL HIM!" she roared as she sped back up the stairs to her and Jaune's shared bedroom.

The remaining seven Arcs sighed, knowing the bullet they had dodged and that Jaune was about to receive.

"What else does it say?" Ilya said, picking up the paper and handing it to Artoria.

XX

Jaune was not having the best morning, and not just because of the near-interrogation he had received last night at the hands of Nora.

First, he had somehow forgotten to charge his scroll overnight. It was such a rookie move he actually facepalmed when it was Ren's alarm (here read as Nora) that woke him up rather than his phone. So, he had to leave it to charge throughout the day, thus leaving him at worst inconvenienced in the grand scheme of things.

Second, his entire head just hurt for a few reasons. The most minor of these was the fact that his teeth hurt for some reason. It was a pain he had never felt before in his life and he couldn't really describe it. It made him wonder what eating was going to feel like.

Then there was the fact that his senses seemed to have gone into overdrive. His vision was sharper than before, his hearing was suped up so that he could hear Team RWBY arguing across the hall, and he could even pick out what kinds of shampoos the girls used. It was sensory overload, and it was giving him a migraine.

Then he got to the cafeteria and it was like someone had twisted the knob on his sensory overload so far that it was torn off in a manic fit of lunacy. It was too much for him, though he was able to keep it hidden from his team long enough to hide himself in food. Upside of enhanced senses: everything tasted a hell of a lot better!

"Yeesh, Vomit Boy, think you got enough protein there?" Yang joked when he walked up with a plate full of bacon, sausage, eggs and potatoes in various varieties.

"What? I got some toast and OJ to balance it out." He defended.

"Still, Jaune, there is such a thing as protein poisoning." Pyrrha agreed.

"Are we ignoring the fact that Nora is carrying a pile of pancakes about half her height here?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby, this is a normal breakfast for Nora." Ren said over a mug of coffee.

"That is not a normal amount of food for any one person." Blake commented.

"Maybe not for wimps like you guys." Nora said with a grin before she started shoveling pancakes into her mouth.

"Sooo, how'd you guys sleep?" Jaune asked his fellow leader.

"Pretty good." She answered, taking a sip of milk, "We pretty much crashed as soon as we got in the room, so we wound up getting up pretty early. We even had time to decorate before we came down for breakfast. How 'bout you guys?"

"Well enough, I'd say." Jaune answered. "We weren't as tired as you guys, so we managed to work a few things out before we got to know each other over a game of poker."

"Strip poker?" Yang said, wiggling her eyes. Pyrrha blushed furiously, and Nora didn't hear it, too absorbed in her sugary breakfast, but Weiss glared at him fiercely, and even Blake looked up from her book.

"Clearly, you overestimate me, Yang." Jaune said. "Personal code of honor aside, there's no way in hell I could get two women I just met to do that."

"Wow, you're that innocent?" Blake drawled.

"Nah, just that awkward."

"See, Jaune, this is why we're friends." Ruby said, high-fiving him.

They continued chatting for another twenty minutes before Weiss ended it by leaving.

"We should go." She said, "We'll be late for class."

Jaune quickly looked at the clock on the wall and recalled the first-year class schedule he had read last night. "But our first class is Grimm Studies at 9." He said.

"So?" she said haughtily.

"So, it's only 8:20."

"One should always arrive a minimum of thirty minutes early to anything important."

'Oh, Gods, another Artoria.' Jaune thought to himself. He didn't know how he didn't recognize it sooner. Probably just hormones kicking in during a moment of teenage weakness, blinding him to her oh-so-obvious imperfections. Definitely a hard no as a romantic possibility.

"If you all want to have your performance suffer, then fine by me, but I will not allow mine to do so just because you all don't have proper study skills." She said, walking off in a huff.

"The regret of ever thinking I had a chance with her is strong." Jaune groaned. Pyrrha chuckled, rubbing his back reassuringly. "She does have a point though. If we leave now, we can get decent seats, plus it's not like any of us know where any of our classrooms are."

"Guess you're right." Ruby shrugged. "C'mon, Team R_BY, let's get to it!"

Jaune glanced over to Nora and saw the impressive dent she had made in her stack, though not nearly enough to finish it. "Nora, we gotta go."

"But, pancakes…" she said, her eyes watering.

"I'll make up the difference as dessert tonight." Ren assured her.

"Okay."

XX

"Okay, am I the only one who didn't learn a damn thing from Professor Port's 'lecture' today?" Yang asked as Team _BY and JNPR had dinner together.

"I think it was more an introduction to his teaching style." Pyrrha said.

"Makes sense." Blake agreed. "It is only the first day of classes after all."

"Then why not just go over a syllabus like with Oobleck and Goodwitch?" Yang asked.

"There are some things Man was not meant to know." Ren said. "The methods of teachers, I have found, are among such things."

Yang looked to Nora. "Was that a joke?"

Nora waved her hand side-to-side. "Hard to tell sometimes."

"Jaune?" Blake said, asking across the table, "You okay?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah, why?"

"Well, in stark contrast to your breakfast, you've hardly touched your dinner."

Jaune sighed, knowing he had been caught. It was a shame too, he had picked such a delicious-looking ribeye and potatoes for dinner. "It's Ruby and Weiss." He admitted, "I figured something was up with how they interacted during Port's class."

"Weiss did seem a little catty towards Ruby…" Yang said.

"And then I overheard them arguing about Ruby's position as leader after class. I'm worried the division between them could hurt your team, I guess."

"Let Yang and I worry about that." Blake said, "Right now, if I were you, I would worry more about myself."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Jaune said with irritation.

"Jaune, please, stop pretending." Pyrrha said with concern written on her face. "We can all see you're in a lot of pain right now."

Jaune stared at her, looking for anything he didn't like, but gave in. She was as bad as Joan. "Okay, but this has to stay between us." The group nodded and leaned in. "Okay, so ever since I woke up this morning, everything has felt… off, I guess."

"Off how?" Pyrrha asked.

"Like my senses are on overdrive. Hearing, sight, smell, taste, it's like they've been kicked up to ridiculous levels. It's so bad I've been taking aspirin since breakfast to take care of the headaches."

"Are you a faunus?" Blake asked.

"No. My family is one of those stupid pure-blood families, except we don't wear it as a fucking badge of honor."

"Maybe it's a Semblance?" Yang posited, "I mean, I think yesterday would definitely qualify as a trigger."

"It's the most plausible explanation I can think of." Ren agreed.

"So, what do we tell Ruby and Weiss?" Blake asked.

"It's not really important." Jaune said, "If they ask, send 'em my way and I'll tell them myself."

"As for the headaches, your Aura should be able to help with that." Pyrrha said, "I can teach you a few exercises to help relieve the pain, if you want."

"You are too good to me, Pyr. Thank you." Jaune said, making her blush hard. "Well, I think it's time to call it a night. Port and Oobleck gave us those chapters to work on for next class, so I should get started on them before going to bed."

"What about your dinner?"

"I'll see if the kitchen staff can wrap it up for me. Steak and taters are still good leftover, if you ask me."

XX

Team JNPR returned to their dorm, saying good night to Yang and Blake across the hall, with Jaune lamenting the wasting of such good food. As Pyrrha and Nora grabbed their pajamas and headed into the bathroom to change, Jaune noticed his scroll was up and running, and that he had several missed calls from Joan. He picked it up and called her back, excited to tell her about everything that had happened in the last three days.

"Sup, me?" he said with a grin, chuckling at their private joke.

"_YOU FUCKING JACKASS!"_ he heard on the other end. It was so loud that he physically recoiled and dropped his scroll. Picking it up, he saw the face of a very much furious Joan Arc.

"Gah, what the hell sis? You trying to make me go deaf?"

"_What the hell me? What the hell you, you little asshat! Three days we don't hear from you, and how do we find out what you've been up? The fucking newspaper, saying you were made team leader instead of Nikos! What the hell is wrong with you?!"_

"Look, I'm sorry! I spent last night getting to know my teammates, and forgot to charge my scroll overnight."

"_That doesn't make all the questions I've gotten all over town today okay! There is only one way to make up for this."_

"Oh, Gods, please, no." Jaune's face paled.

"_Yes, brother dearest. Go round up your team. It's time I met them."_ Joan said with a malicious grin.

* * *

**So, yeah, That's the Badge and the Burden done. You'll notice that Ruby and Weiss were absent from half the story, and that is intentional. The show is called RWBY for a reason. In this story, we're focusing on JNPR, with a special focus on Jaune, obviously. And speaking of the bumbling idiot, not so much right now. He's getting more confidence and he's getting enhanced senses. Almost like a wolf, don't you think?**

**And now for probably the most controversial part of this story, Jaune's family. Now, I've only seen two other authors who go into detail about the Clan Arc; vixvix, the man who inspired this story, and Coeur Al'Aran, arguably the best RWBY fan-author on the site. Both of these individuals have their own ideas on naming, and I am no different, except for _how_ I name them. Coeur follows the Remnant tradition of naming children after colors, while Vix named the elders after Rome's first Imperial family (Augustus and Livia) while the daughters are named after minerals. I, however, finding the tradition a little stiffling- and in universe, it is a tradition, not a rule or a law.**

**I decided to name the family after anime characters. The parents are named after Joseph Joestar, and his wife, Suzie Q, while the daughters are named (and modelled) after Saber/Artoria Pendragon from Fate/Stay Night, Seras Victoria from Hellsing, Ruler/Joan of Arc from Fate/Apocrypha, Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail, Tanya von Degurechaff from Youjo Senki, and Illyasviel von Einsbern from Fate/Stay Night. Saphron is the only exception since she has already been revealed in canon and I wanted to keep her.**

**Be sure to Follow, Favorite and leave a Review, and I will catch you later.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, I'm back!**

**Sorry this took so long, but I needed to put all my energy into getting RWBY Watches done for the time being. Now that it is, I can put more focus on this.**

**This chapter will answer a question that many of you have been very, VERY vocal about, and we see more changes to Jaune thanks to the awakening of his inner Primarch. A little expo heavy perhaps, but I like how it turned out.**

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 6

Location: Fenris, The Fang

It had been six solar days since the meeting with the Wolf Lords. Their course was set. Logan Grimnar would lead his four hand-picked companies to the western fringe of Imperial Space and warp jump into the unknown. He could pass it off as Space Wolf Chapter business if some Administratum drone or Inquisition dog came and asked, and possibly as an exploration in force if questioned by the Lord Commander himself, but hopefully it would never come to that. First, however, he had something far more important to do.

He stepped off the elevator into one of the most holy places within the Fang, The Halls of the Revered Fallen, where the Chapter's Dreadnoughts slept until needed most urgently. A few had been roused for the expedition as a precaution, but there was one who was needed most of all, and the Wolf Lords believed only Grimnar should be the one to speak to him. He walked to the center of the Hall, where a lone sarcophagus stood in a place of honor.

Machines whirred to life as Grimnar approached. "Great Wolf." A mechanical voice said from within the sarcophagus.

"Old Wolf." Grimnar returned. This was Bjorn the Fell-Handed, the oldest living member of the Adeptus Astartes. He who walked with Russ himself in the days of the Great Crusade. The First Great Wolf.

"How many times must I tell you not to call me that?" the venerable Ancient asked, his synthetic voice somehow managing to sound annoyed. "That title is yours now."

"It's a mark of respect." Logan replied, a ghost of a smile gracing his face, "Besides, it was your title in the first place." His face turned serious once more. "I take it you know why I have come?"

"Yes. I have had the dream. Do you intend to find him? Our father?"

"I do."

"Then send for the Iron Priests. I am going with you."

"Heh. Answered my question before I even asked it."

"To be fair, it was rather obvious. No one knows the Lord Primarch like I do."

"Except the Lord Guilliman."

"Details."

XX

"Should we be worried about him?" Blake asked. "He's been like that since we got here."

"Cut the guy some slack, he's had a rough day." Ruby replied.

"From what you guys say, it sounds more like he's had a rough life." Yang said teasingly.

"Oh! I know what to do!" Nora said. There was a brief pause, "Hey, Joan, when did you get here?"

"Joan?!" Jaune yelled, looking up from the table he had been lying his head on for over half an hour. But there was no Joan to be seen, only Nora standing next to him with a shit-eating grin.

"Boop." She poked his nose, "Gotcha."

"God dammit." Jaune sighed. "You guys suck, you know that?"

"Love ya too, Jauney." Nora giggled.

"Jaune, are you okay?" Pyrrha asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jaune replied. It was a half-truth, in fairness. It had been almost a month since Ruby and Weiss' little leadership spat, and things had been middling at best. The meditations tricks that Pyrrha had shown him did wonders to help him gain a handle on his Semblance, to the point where it no longer affected him unless he wished it. But now he had a new problem: combat.

He was not weak by any measure; nobody could deny that. Whenever he was called up in Grimm Studies to fight against a Grimm Professor Port had somehow brought in, he was up there with the rest of his team in terms of results. Sure, he would admit that he could be a bit savage, sacrificing technique or style in favor of victory, but that was something that he could work on over time. He had four years to do so, after all. But Combat class was different. From what his team said, he had a bad tendency to either hold back too much or just lose control and lose the match by knock out or ring out.

He played it off like he didn't remember, but he remembered every second of it. He was conscious of his actions, but his attention wasn't on the fight; it was within.

Lately, he had noticed there was something within him, something primal. Like a great beast that lent him strength and power during a fight. It's what drove him during a fight, let him have the good/bad combat record he had. He found it useful against Grimm. They were just monsters, after all, soulless and mindless, and exactly what he had signed up to fight. But against people? No. He couldn't let it out against people. With that kind of strength, he feared what he could do against another living thing, even ones with Aura. He tried to hold it back, keep it under control, but sometimes he just couldn't, and it broke loose.

He saw the looks his friends were giving. "Let me guess. I don't look it, right?"

"Well, yeah, kinda." Ruby admitted.

Jaune smiled, grateful for her honesty. "Don't worry about. I just haven't been sleeping well."

"Is it the dreams?" Pyrrha asked.

And then there were his dreams. They were so vivid, so real, almost like memories. But he knew he had never seen a wolf that big before, even at the zoo, and he was damn sure he would never let them that close. Ren had suggested keeping a record of them, to see if there was any kind of pattern to them and from that, figure out what they could mean. The next day, he had filled a composition book a quarter of the way through with entries.

"Yeah."

"What was it about this time?" Nora asked, genuinely interested.

"There was a fight." Jaune said, trying to think back, "I was one of the fighters, and the other guy, it felt like I knew him. Like we were close, siblings I think. He had done something, because I felt just this burning anger towards him. We fought for what seemed like days. And then, I started laughing. We had been acting like children, all because he got to something before me. And for no reason the other guy knocks me out from behind."

"Sounds like a dickhead." Yang commented.

"At least it hasn't affected your schoolwork." Weiss said, coming about as close to a compliment as Jaune thought her capable of.

That was probably the most surprising thing of all; his academic abilities had skyrocketed.

He had always been an above-average academic back in K-12, the scattered A's on his report cards every now and then, never lower than a C, but B's for the most part. Joan had always been the smart one, so long as they were together in class. But ever since he came to Beacon, he was doing better than he ever had before. Sure, there was plenty to catch up on in Grimm Studies and Dust Chemistry, and all the other classes that were covered in a combat school, but he was catching up faster than he thought possible.

He tried to come up with a comeback, but for a shout of pain coming from across the cafeteria.

"Ow! That hurts!" He turned and saw Cardin pulling on the ears of a brown-haired rabbit Faunus girl, his partner laughing his ass off, while one of his teammates- Dove if he remembered right- shook his head at the foolishness, while the fourth was completely neutral about it. "Please stop." She begged only for Cardin to pull even harder.

Pyrrha was about speak her mind when she heard a loud slam next to her. She turned to see Jaune rise from his seat and storm over to Cardin. He grabbed the boy by the wrist holding the girl's rabbit ear and dug his thumb into the pressure point just below the joint.

"Gah! What the hell-?"

"Let. Her. Go." Jaune growled.

"Back off Arc. This don't concern you." Russel Thrush, Cardin's partner said.

"I'm making it my concern." Jaune glared at Russel before turning back to Cardin, "Now, let her go."

Cardin released the girl's ear and Jaune shoved his arm back at him.

"You just made a big mistake, Arc." Cardin said, his eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, whatever." Jaune said flippantly, "Big Cardin Winchester, picking on girls and beating up the weakest kid in class. Real Huntsman material right there."

"You little- "Cardin said as he moved to attack Jaune.

"Ah, I wouldn't if I were you." Jaune said nodding to his right, where his team and Team RWBY looked ready to intervene, and then behind Cardin, where three other students were doing the same.

"Tch. Fine, but the next time there may not be anyone to save you, Arc." Cardin waved for his team to follow him out as he brushed past Jaune, shoulder-checking him as he did.

Jaune sighed, glad he was able to keep the beast down, and turned to the girl. "You okay?"

The girl nodded shyly. "You shouldn't have stepped in." she said.

"And let his racism slide? Not fucking likely."

"So, you only did it cuz she's a Faunus?" a voice said behind him. Jaune turned and saw a fair-skinned girl with short brown hair and a heavily modified, but still regulation, uniform. A few feet away stood a pair of boys, one massive with tanned skin and short hair, the other lean with dark skin and orange hair.

"I did it cuz it was the right thing to do." Jaune said evenly, looking into the girl's eyes. Or rather, her glasses. She pushed down her glasses and gave him an appraising look.

"Huh. Good answer." She said, holding out her hand. "Coco Adel, leader of Team CFVY."

He took her hand with a smile. "Jaune Arc, leader of Team JNPR."

"This cutie right here is Velvet Scarlatina, my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you." Velvet mumbled.

"Listen." Coco said, pulling Jaune aside, allowing her teammates to come in and check on Velvet, "I know Velvet won't say it, so I will: thank you for stepping in when you did. Not many would have."

"Not a problem. Like I said, it was the right thing to do. Race, gender, sexual orientation, it makes no difference."

Coco smiled at him indulgently. "You're an odd duck, Arc."

Jaune shrugged. "Chalk it up to having seven sisters, including a fraternal twin. Tends to change a guy's standard outlook."

"Well, whatever the reason, I owe you. Gimme your scroll." He unlocked it and handed it to her. "Here's my number. If you need anything, you let me know." She gave the scroll back to him and gave him a two-finger salute. "See ya around, kid."

"Aye." Jaune said, returning the salute and heading back to his table. He sat down and looked up, seeing the looks of astonishment on his friends faces. "What? I don't like bullies."

XX

A few hours later, Jaune sat in the front row of Dr. Oobleck's history class, the professor believing in planned seating rather than allowing teams to sit together like in their other classes. Today, the doctor was covering the Faunus Rights Revolution, more commonly known as the Faunus Wars. He was only half-paying attention though, his attention focused on the textbook in front of him. He was trying to get some extra reading in during class, making sure to focus on the relevant topic.

"While this might seem like ancient history to many of you," The Doctor lectured, "It is imperative to remember that these are relatively recent events." He took another sip of coffee before zipping across the room again. "Why the repercussions of the uprising can still be seen to this day. Now, have any among you been subjugated or discriminated against because of your Faunus heritage?" Jaune saw a few hands went up, including Velvet's, and he felt the beast within growl angrily. "Dreadful! Simply dreadful! Remember students, it is precisely this kind of ignorance that breeds violence. The White Fang are a perfect example. Now! Which of you young scholars can tell me what many theorists believe to be the turning point in the third year of the war? Yes, Ms. Schnee?"

"The Battle at Fort Castle." Weiss answered primly.

"Precisely!" Oobleck responded. "And, who can tell me the advantage the Faunus had over General Legune's forces?" No response came. "Mr. Arc! How about you?" Oobleck said as he zoomed over to stand in front of Jaune. "You seem to be more interested in the text, perhaps you have already found the answer?"

Fuck. He had just gotten to the part about Fort Castle, but it didn't say anything yet about the outcome.

"Uh," he said, trying to stall so he could figure it out himself. He tried to look at the text.

"Eyes on me Mr. Arc." Oobleck scolded him. "What is the answer?" In his peripheral vision he could see Pyrrha gesturing to her eyes and making circles around them.

"I believe, the answer is," he had to bite the bullet, "That I don't know, Doctor."

The response was rewarded with chuckles from the students, and loud guffaws from Cardin.

"Well, at least you're honest about it." Oobleck sighed. "Cardin, perhaps you would like to share your thoughts on the subject?"

Cardin scoffed at the question, leaning back in his chair, his legs resting on the desk. "Well, I know it's a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier."

"You're not the most open-minded of individuals, are you, Cardin?" Pyrrha said.

"Hey, you got a problem?" Cardin said hostilely.

"No, I have the answer. It's night vision." Pyrrha said. "Many Faunus are known to have nearly-perfect sight in the dark."

"General Legune was inexperienced and made the mistake of trying ambush the Faunus in their sleep." Blake continued. "His massive army was outmatched and the General was captured." Oobleck nodded in approval, but Blake couldn't help but rub salt in Cardin's wounded ego. "Perhaps if he'd paid attention in class, he wouldn't have been remembered as such a failure."

Cardin rose to start a fight, but for Oobleck stopping him. "Mr. Winchester, please take your seat." As Cardin sat back down, a grin grew across Jaune's face. "You and Mr. Arc can both see me after class for additional readings."

As the class filed out of the lecture hall, Jaune and Cardin remained in their seats.

"Gentlemen, you have both been struggling in my class since day one." He turned to Cardin. "Mr. Winchester, I can't tell if you simply lack interest in the subject, or if you're just too stubborn and set in your ways, but either way, that ends now. You signed up to become a Huntsman, and you cannot make a difference in the world if you do not understand its past. I want a three-page essay on Gibbons, pages 51-91, on my desk by next class. Additionally," Oobleck's face darkened and he slowly approached Cardin's desk. "I should like to remind you that racism and other such derogatory comments are not allowed in this class. Should it happen again, I will see to it that you are suspended from classes for as long as the headmaster sees fit and continued failure to comply will result in expulsion. You are dismissed."

Cardin maintained defiant eye contact with the teacher as gathered his things and left. Having heard the whole exchange, Jaune could only imagine what was in store for him as the doctor stood before him.

"And now for you, Mr. Arc. Do you mind if I call you Jaune?"

"Uh, no, sir." Jaune said hesitantly.

Oobleck poured himself another cup of liquid energy and pulled a chair up so he could sit in front of Jaune. "Jaune, is there a reason you were reading the textbook rather than listening to my lecture? I assure you the material presented is practically identical."

"Well, my school didn't exactly cover the Faunus Revolution in this kind of detail." Jaune said, keeping as close to the truth as possible without blowing his cover. "I was hoping that the textbook would be able to fill in the gaps."

"Yes, it is unfortunate that public schools do not have more focused curriculum." Oobleck mused. Jaune, however, was freaking out. He said _public _school. Not combat school, _public_. How did he know? Had the faculty always known? If they did, why was even allowed through to initiation, much less access to the school? He clearly wasn't able to hide his emotions, for the teacher chuckled.

"Yes, Mr. Arc, I am aware as to the state of your transcripts." Oobleck said. "Rest assured, you will not be ejected from this institution any time soon."

"But- but- " Jaune fumbled to find the right words.

"I will admit, many of the faculty members assumed you would perish during initiation, myself included, if I am being fully honest. However you may have started initiation, you nonetheless managed to pick yourself up and prevail. That fact alone proves you have Huntsman potential. Your frankly excellent display of strategy and leadership against the Deathstalker merely sweetened the pot."

"So, I'm staying at Beacon? Team JNPR won't be effected?" Jaune asked.

"Yes to both, Mr. Arc, but only so long as your improvement continues and is maintained." Oobleck said, folding his hands in front of him. "Which brings me back to my point. Is there anything you haven't been understanding in this class?"

"Well," Jaune said, thinking back to something that had been nagging at him, "In regards to the Faunus Revolution, are there any other books you could recommend? Specifically, ones that are written from the perspective of the Faunus?"

Oobleck sat back, surprised by the question, before his face quirked into a grin.

XX

Pyrrha had waited for Jaune outside the classroom for a solid twenty minutes before she gave up. There was only so much time left in the lunch hour, and she needed to eat something before Dust Chemistry. Thankfully, Jaune joined them at the fifty minute mark, a bundle of beef jerky in hand.

"Sorry about that, guys. Kinda lost track of time back there." he said, sitting down next to his partner.

"What was that all about?" Nora asked.

"Nothing really. Oobleck just wanted to see if I was having trouble understanding the Faunus Revolution, and recommended some optional extra reading." He tore open a pack of jerky and took a large mouthful of the meat stick. "On the other hand, Cardin got his ass chewed out something fierce, so that was fun."

He had barely finished his snack when the warning bell rang and the students began to file out of the cafeteria. As his team stood up, he stopped them.

"Hey, guys, I have something I need to tell you. Can you meet me in the dorm after our last class?"

* * *

**There! Are you happy!? Bjorn is going with the Wolves to Remnant.**

**If I'm being completely honest, when I started this, I had completely forgotten about Bjorn, and shame the fuck on me.**

**Also, Crosshares is a thing in this story. I don't care what After the Fall says, Coco and Velvet are together in everything I write and will remain so, so there.**

**Before I sign off, I would like to say something about reviews. If you want to be critical about my work, that's okay by me. If you wish to do so by sending me a review, fantastic! I love it! All I ask is that you do not hide behind anonymous Guest reviews. Unlike normal reviews, anonymous Guest reviews do not allow me to start a dialogue with my readers so we can talk our differences out. In short, if you have something to say about my work, do so, but do not hide behind anonymity. Even the guys over at Critics United were bold enough to use their names when they were harassing me over RWBY Watches a few months ago.**

**Be sure to Follow, Favorite and leave a Review, and I will catch you later.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Aaah. So glad I was able to get this done before I devote myself to more RWBY Watches.**

**But, more importantly than that, RWBY VOLUME 7!**

**Oh my dear Oum, these first three episodes. Penny's back and more adorable than ever, Irongoat has a plan of attack that I'm not too sure about, Ruby pulls an Ozpin on Irongoat, and may the Man-Emperor save us all, for we are not prepared for the amount of Qrow-centric fan art that is inbound. A little disappointed that Jaune apparently chose that affront of a hairstyle, but what can you do?**

**In today's chapter, we see the fallout from Jaune's telling the truth, a quick check-in with the Rout, Cardin makes a plan, and Forever Fall happens.**

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 7

He told them everything.

His fake transcripts and how he got them. His lack of proper training. The fact that the teachers knew. All of it.

He sat before them in a chair he had positioned in front of the door, while his teammates sat on their beds. Except for Nora; she was laying on her stomach, her head resting upon her arms while she kicked her legs in the air. He sat before them in silence, having just finished his tale and awaiting the inevitable blast wave.

'They probably hate me.' He thought. 'They could have been killed during initiation by listening to me.'

"So, you're saying you managed to get into Beacon on illegally obtained and false information, with no training whatsoever, and that the teachers are letting this continue?" Ren said, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yes, but Oobleck said that as long as my progress continues and my grades are maintained, they won't say or do anything." Jaune tried to assure him.

The three teammates looked at each other, a silent conversation passing between them.

Pyrrha sighed. "Jaune, you realize this is a lot to take in, right?"

"Yeah, I don't blame you if you don't trust me after all that." He hung his head.

Nora frowned and rolled off the bed. She stood and walked over to Jaune. Pyrrha tried to stop her, but Ren held her back, shaking his head. Nora squatted down in front of Jaune and lifted his head up by the chin so that they were eye-to-eye. She stared at him long and hard, like she was searching for something. Jaune was worried until she smiled and stood back up.

"Well, I know that I trust you." She said confidently.

"What?"

"Call me crazy, but when I look at you, I see a guy who has had a dream all his life, and now you have a chance to chase it, no matter how hard it is. That's the kind of guy I can trust."

"If Nora trusts you, so do I." Ren said, rising from his seat.

"Really?" Jaune said.

Ren nodded. "Nora's instincts have served her well over the years, and I trust them. If she sees no lie in you, then neither do I."

"D'awwww, shucks, Renny. You're making me blush!" Nora said, holding her cheeks to hide their reddening.

There was only one person left whose opinion of him he truly cared about. "Pyrrha?" he asked.

She smiled warmly at him. "Jaune, we're partners. As long as that fact remains true, I'll always have your back." Jaune was smiling so much his face was starting to hurt and he felt he was on the verge of tears. "Admittedly, though, it is, again, a lot to take in."

"Agreed." Ren said.

"Ditto." Nora agreed.

"I'm sorry." Jaune said, hanging his head again.

"Well, we can at least do what we can to help you get better." Pyrrha said. Jaune looked up at her. "We're a team Jaune, and teams look out for their own. You're our leader, but you shouldn't have to deal with this alone."

Ren nodded his agreement. "I can help you catch up with the class academically."

"And I can help you get into fighting shape!" Nora said, raising her hand excitedly. "You'll be breaking legs in no time."

"If you'd like, I can train you in swordsmanship." Pyrrha said. "We use similar weapons, so my basic style should translate to you fairly easily."

"You guys." Jaune said, standing up. Now he was crying. "Thank you." He walked over and embraced Pyrrha, soon joined by Nora, who picked them up in a crushing bearhug while Ren simply patted his back.

"As long as we're being open with each other," Jaune was able to grunt out, "There is one other thing I think I should tell you about."

XX

Aboard his flagship, _The Pride of Fenris_, Logan Grimnar looked out over the modest fleet he had assembled. Four Great Ships, including his, to transport the four Great Companies of Astartes through the stars, three Strike Cruisers, five Hunter-class Destroyer squadrons, six Frigate squadrons of Nova and Gladius-classes and topped off with a single Battle Barge, his own _Allfather's Honor._ Not an insignificant force.

"My lord." His helmsman said next to him. "The fleet is assembled and preparations for Warp translation are complete. We await your command."

Grimnar nodded his thanks to the mortal and stepped over to a vox caster.

"This is the _Pride of Fenris_ to all ships." He said, addressing the fleet. "The time is nigh, brothers. This very well may be the last Great Hunt in the history of our chapter. Many have there been, but never has one had such a trail to follow. It will take us approximately two weeks of Warp travel to reach the far edge of Segmentum Pacificus. From there, only the Allfather knows what lays in store for us." He took a calming breath. "All ships, commence Warp translation. Begin the 31st Great Hunt!"

XX

"So, yeah, that's a thing." Jaune said as he finished telling his team about what he called the beast within.

"Can't say I've heard of anything like that." Pyrrha admitted.

"At least outside of fairy tales." Jaune added. "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. He's always there, but he only becomes a problem when I fight."

"Then you just need to learn how to control him." Ren said. "You said that he only comes out during a fight, right? Well, I think Pyrrha would be perfect to help with that."

"I'd be glad to." Pyrrha said eagerly.

"Well, I guess that leaves only one question." Jaune said, "Do we tell Team RWBY? They are our friends, after all. Or at least, Ruby is mine."

"I agree that they are our friends," Ren said, "But that doesn't mean we have to tell them everything."

"I agree." Nora nodded. "This is Team JNPR business as much as it is yours. It should stay between us."

"And if I decide to tell them at some point?" Jaune asked.

"Then we will be there to back you up." Pyrrha said resolutely.

"Thanks guys." He smiled. "Well, we had better get to dinner before all the food is gone."

"Wait, isn't tonight pizza night?" Ren said.

The four members of Team JNPR stared at each other, their mouths watering and stomachs beginning to rumble.

"Triple time it!" Jaune yelled, nearly tearing the door out of the frame in his haste.

XX

Cardin watched from the library as Team JNPR blazed past in front of him as he neared the exit. His eyes followed them as they rounded a corner into the cafeteria, but his focus was on the two in front. Arc and Nikos.

One embarrasses him in front of class and the other embarrasses him in front of the entire cafeteria. It didn't matter which was worse, both of them had made a fool of him. And nobody makes a fool out of Cardin fucking Winchester.

His eyes fell on a student who was doing some kind of biology research on insects. He considered harassing the nerd until the page he was reading caught his eye.

"Hey, nerd." He said, walking up to the boy. "What is that?"

"W- what?" The boy stammered.

"That, Poindexter." Cardin pointed at the insect on the page. "What is that thing?"

"I-it's a rapier wasp!" the boy was terrified now.

"They dangerous?"

"Not on their own. B-but they live in hives, so there's never just one."

"Interesting…" Cardin said, a plan coming to mind. "What's your name, kid?"

"Kerry. Kerry Luna." He said, slowly calming down.

"Alright, Luna, here's the deal." Cardin said as he took a seat next to the boy. "I'm assuming you're still a virgin?"

"U-um!" was all he could stutter out before he looked down, face red with embarrassment and shame.

"That's a yes. Listen here; I know a lady out in the city who has a thing for guys like you. And I'm not bullshitting you here. This chick is an easy ten on the hotness scale and she ain't cheap. But I know for a fact that she'll make an exception for you. I'll give you her number, and all you gotta tell her is that Cardin Winchester sent you. In return, you tell me everything you know about these little guys," he tapped the book, "Including where I can get my hands on some. Deal?" he held out his hand to the boy. The young Huntsman-in-training didn't even hesitate and Cardin listened to him intently with a vicious smile on his face.

XX

A week later, the first-year teams were walking through Forever Fall forest on a field trip. Professor Goodwitch led the way, reminding the students of the dangers of the forest as they walked.

"Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peach asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest. And I am here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

Jaune and Pyrrha shared a glance at that, but Jaune simply shrugged. They would be fine.

"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap." She instructed them. "However, this forest is filled with creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. Have fun!"

With that, the teams spilt up, with RWBY and JNPR moving in one direction, while CRDL went the opposite. As they left, Jaune noticed that Cardin was carrying an extra box. He thought he saw it move, but wrote it off as extra jars from the tinkling he heard coming from the young man. They were probably doing extra work to make up for their generally poor performance in Professor Peach's class.

Eventually, the sister teams found a large clearing divided by a hill and decided to set up shop. The trees were tough, but with a little clever thinking on Jaune's part, they managed tap enough trees that the students could start harvesting the sap. Team RWBY had no troubles collecting their share of sap, but JNPR had two problems; one named Nora, the other named Jaune.

Nora was simply being greedy and devoured the sap every time Ren handed her a full jar. Jaune on the other hand, was more complicated. Apparently, he was allergic to the stuff. Nearly the moment he came into contact with the sap, he started to swell up, parts of his body went numb; it was bad. However, Jaune was stubborn and he pushed through, despite the protests of his teammates and friends.

He managed to finish quickly and immediately fell against a tree near Pyrrha.

"Pyr?" he said.

"Yes, Jaune?" she said with amusement as she continued to collect sap from her tree.

"If we ever have to do this again, just have Nora knock me out and tie me to a tree. Probably best to just pre-empt my dumbass decisions before they have the chance to take root."

Pyrrha giggled at him. "Will do."

"Cool. I'm just gonna pass out for a while." He sighed as he drifted off.

He slept soundly for about half-an-hour before he heard voices. However, they weren't the voices of his friends; they were male, and deep, and familiar. He tried to figure it out when his instincts forced him awake, but not soon enough to stop the jar of red sap hitting him in the chest, splashing it all over his armor.

"Fucking hell!" he shouted, looking down at his armor. He looked back up to see who did it, but instead, time slowed as he saw another jar making a beeline at Pyrrha. Instinct took over and he leapt up to take the hit on his back as though it were a bullet. He felt the glass jar smash on his armor, coating it in yet more sap and none of it getting on Pyrrha.

"What's going on?" Ruby shouted as she ran over, but Jaune had tuned her out. His sense of smell kicked in and while the sap obviously smelled of such, there was some more too it; the scent of body odor and deodorant. He lifted his head and smelled the same off in the distance. He decided to let his senses free and heard laughter in the distance. Familiar laughter.

Jaune face turned into a snarl. "Pardon me for a moment, ladies." He growled before walking off angrily toward the hill, his jar of sap in hand. He crested it and saw Team CRDL laughing on the ground near the tree line. He should have known. "Think that shit was funny, Cardin?"

"What are you going on about, Arc?" Cardin said, the only one who wasn't laughing.

"You know damn well, ass clown!" Jaune said, throwing his jar at Cardin's chest, ruining Cardin's armor as his had been.

"Well, now, that wasn't very smart." Cardin said, as he began laying into Jaune. The larger boy picked Jaune up by his chest plate and punched him back into the ground. "You just don't learn, do you Jauney-boy?" he kicked Jaune in the stomach. "And now, I'mma send your ass back to mommy in tiny, little pieces."

Jaune hauled himself to his knees and spat out some bloody spit. "I don't give two shits what you do to me. But you are _not_ messing with my team."

"What? You think talk like that makes you tough? That you're a big, strong man now?" Cardin said, picking him up again.

"You said it, not me." Jaune replied defiantly.

That pushed Cardin over the edge and he slammed his fist into Jaune's face.

"Ah!" he yelled as a bright light erupted at the point of impact, and Cardin dropped Jaune to cradle the hand that had punched him. Jaune looked down at himself, a white light shimmering over his body briefly and his injuries disappeared thanks to his Aura. That was, until Sky kicked him back into the dirt.

"Now, let's see how much of a man you really are." Cardin said.

A low, loud growl drifted through the clearing. A pack of Beowolves emerged from the forest, led by the most massive Beowolf any of them had seen, standing at least six feet tall at the shoulders and with large, bony spikes covering it's back. It sniffed the air and focused on Cardin, specifically on the sap covering his chest, while the younger ones moved towards Jaune.

"Cheese it!" Russel yelled, as he and his two teammates ran from the pack of Grimm, while Cardin and Jaune drew their weapons.

XX

The howling of the pack echoed throughout the forest.

Ruby perked up. "You guys heard that, right?"

Before anybody could answer, _RDL came running over the hill. "Beowolves, run!" they yelled.

Yang stopped one of them, holding him by the front of his shirt. "What?"

"Beowolves! Back there, a whole pack of them!" Russel yelled hysterically.

Pyrrha's jar hit the ground. "Jaune!"

Ruby deployed her scythe. "Yang, Blake, you two go find Goodwitch."

"You two go with them." Pyrrha said to Ren and Nora. "There could be more of them."

Pyrrha, Ruby and Weiss ran in the direction CRDL had come from to find Cardin on the ground at the mercy of the Alpha Beowolf, while Jaune finished up with the last of the lesser Grimm. His shield was discarded in favor of a two-handed grip on his sword, which slashed down and through the skull of a lesser Beowolf.

Jaune turned as saw Cardin bring his mace up to defend himself, only for the Alpha to bat it away, coming to a stop at Jaune's feet. He quickly picked it up and ran at the beast. His face was feral, the beast within fully in control. Inadvertently, he pressed a button on the handle of the that caused the flanges on the mace to compact into a single thick blade, essentially turning the weapon into an axe.

Jaune roared as he approached the Alpha and jammed his sword into it's flank. The Alpha roared in pain, swiping back at Jaune in retaliation, only for Jaune to jump back.

'Aggro pulled.' He thought to himself, 'Now kill!'

He brought his sword down in an overhead slash at the Beowolf's arm. The Alpha easily deflected it with the bony protrusions on its arm, but it roared in more pain as Jaune brought the mace-axe down on it, the heavy blade busting though the bone spikes and plates, and cleaving through the appendage.

Running on pure adrenaline and instinct, he thrust his sword into the underside of the other arm, twisted it around and pinned it to the ground. The Alpha tried to snap at him, but he punched it in the face and then kicked it's knees out from under it.

Jaune stood over it triumphantly, axe in hand. "You are no wolf." He growled at it before bringing the axe down on it's head, killing the Grimm.

He panted as he rose once more. He could hear his friends whispering to each other a ways off, but only one voice caught his attention.

"Jaune?" he heard Cardin say. He turned to the bigger boy, still sitting on the ground. A wicked thought came to mind. This was his chance to get rid of a massive problem once and for all. All his bullying, all his racism, it could end right now, by his hands, with the prick's own weapon. Such sweet irony. He walked towards the coward, weapon in hand. Cardin begged him not to, to get away from him. He promised to leave him alone, him and his friends. But the beast drove him on. He felt a small pain in his mouth, but ignored it. It was nothing.

He cornered Cardin against a tree. Let it be done. He hefted the axe over his head and brought it down, but as he did, he felt it shift, felt it slide a bit closer to him in his hands. Instead of making contact with Cardin's crotch, as he intended, the blade impacted the ground just below his crotch.

Confused, he looked at Cardin, but the boy was almost unconscious. He looked to the side and saw Weiss, Ruby, and Pyrrha, the latter of whom had her arm outstretched toward him. He felt the beast growl as it surrendered control to him. He looked back to Cardin and pulled him up by his breast plate. He saw the terror in the bully's eyes.

"Never mess with my team or my friends again." He said, "Otherwise, there may not be someone to save you next time. Got it?" Cardin nodded his head rapidly and Jaune dropped him. As he walked away, the exhaustion set in and he began to fall. Ruby ran in and caught him, looping his arm over her shoulders.

"You okay?" she asked as Pyrrha joined her on the other side.

"Yeah, just never fought that hard for that long before." He said.

"Well, while you lack any sense of finesse, you were doubtless effective." Weiss said as she walked up to him.

"You guys saw that, huh?"

"Yeah we did!" Ruby exclaimed. "You were awesome!"

"Thanks." He grinned weakly. He saw the look of shock and worry on Weiss' face. "Weiss? Something wrong?"

"You're a faunus?" she asked hesitantly.

"What? No. Didn't Yang and Blake tell you?"

"No!"

"Well, I'm not!"

"Then explain those!" she pointed at his face.

"The hell are you talking about?" he asked. Weiss immediately pulled out her scroll, turned on the camera and showed him the screen. He looked at it and saw himself. He looked normal, a little cut up and bruised, but nothing out of the ordinary.

"Look at your teeth!" the heiress nearly shouted. Jaune rolled his eyes and opened his mouth. His teeth looked fine; white and shiny, nothing out of place, nothing broken. Then he noticed that all of his canines had grown exponentially.

His eyes widened. "Well, that's new."

* * *

**It may have taken a while, but I like how this turned out. It doesn't play out exactly like canon, but this whole story is pretty AU, so...**

**Be sure to Follow, Favorite and leave a Review, and I will catch you all later.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Merry Christmas, dear readers! Or whatever winter holiday you choose to celebrate, I don't judge.**

**Not much has changed on my front; Bray Wyatt continues to be the best part of WWE programming, the new Star Wars was decent, and D&D is fun as all hell. If nothing else, Critics United is getting uppity on RWBY Watches again, which is a real pain in the side. I swear, those guys must have nothing better to do with their time. The whole intimidation bit didn't work last time, it sure as hell won't work this time.**

**Ah well, let's get on with it, shall we?**

**This chapter, we wrap up the Jaunedice mini-arc, the Wolves take the big plunge, and Jaune is planning something.**

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 8

After nearly collapsing in the Emerald Forest, Professor Goodwitch had the entirety of Team JNPR escort Jaune to Beacon's infirmary, where he was then subjected to the most comprehensive check-up imaginable: MRI, CT scan, blood work, x-rays, urine sample. Honestly, he thought it was a bit overboard. Sure, the teeth thing was weird, but he could live them. It's not like they hurt anymore or anything. At worst, he felt physically exhausted, and that could be rectified by a decent meal and a good night's rest.

But then, he remembered who he was dealing with. Dr. Emily Grey, star pupil of Beacon's last chief physician, Nurse Tsune. And dear God, the horror stories he had heard about Tsune alone.

The infirmary itself was more like a small hospital wing than any nurse's office Jaune had been in, being made up of multiple rooms large enough for a full team, a fully equipped diagnostic ward, and an emergency operating theater. Jaune was laid back on one of the beds, bereft of his armor and hooked up to a monitor. Thankfully, Dr. Grey had seen fit to skip the I.V. drip and a catheter.

"So, what's the damage, Doctor?" Jaune asked hesitantly.

"Mr. Arc, you are, without doubt, the most _fascinating_ patient I have ever had in my tenure at Beacon." The doctor said enthusiastically as she walked back into the room. She was an attractive woman, wearing a purple-trimmed lab coat over a lilac business shirt and black slacks, purple eyes behind smart glasses, and her long black hair tied up in a pony tail. "But to answer your question, nothing permanent. Obvious aside, of course."

"Yeah, speaking of which…"

"How in the hell did these even happen?" Nora asked bluntly, looking at pictures Dr. Grey had taken of Jaune's new fangs.

"Yeah, that." Jaune chuckled.

"Well, now, that is what makes this so much fun." Dr. Grey said cheerily, "I don't know!"

"What do you mean 'you don't know'?" Pyrrha asked, irritated.

"Perhaps some visual aides may help." Dr. Grey said, pulling out an x-ray, "This, Mr. Arc, is a copy of your last dental x-ray, dated about eight months ago. As you can see, there are no irregularities. Just a nice, healthy set of 32 pearly whites, without so much as a hint of a cavity. Good job, by the way." Jaune smiled, remembering that his dentist had said much the same at the time. "And this," she put up a new x-ray. "Is the one that I took just now. As you can see, your canine teeth have deviated from the human standard, and elongated to a length normally seen in large dogs and Faunus. Why this has happened, I have no God damned idea!"

Pyrrha sighed in exasperation. Jaune patted her on the back, happy for her concern.

"There's no point worrying about it too much, Pyr." Jaune assured her before turning back to the doctor. "So, what does this mean in the long term, Doc?"

"Honestly, it's hard to say." The normally cheerful physician said in a serious tone, "From what I can tell, your dentistry has completely altered itself to compensate for these new growths, so you shouldn't have any trouble eating, at the very least. I would suggest keeping the information compartmented though."

"So it'll be a secret between us, yourself, and Team RWBY." Jaune said, nodding his head. It made sense to him; he knew his team could keep a secret, Grey was bound by patient confidentiality laws, and he trusted Ruby and Yang enough. Blake seemed somewhat indifferent, making Weiss the hard sell on the whole thing. It was not a conversation he was looking forward to.

"If no one else has any questions, you are free to go, Mr. Arc. However, I would like to set up a few follow-ups, just to be safe. How does about this time next month sound?"

"Wilco, ma'am." Jaune said as he freed himself of the monitor.

After the team had left, she quickly retreated to her office and locked the door behind her. She placed the folder containing Jaune's test result on the desk, sat down and took out a recording device. Placing it on the table, she leant back in her chair and began to speak seriously.

"Medical diary of Dr. Emily Grey, entry 00021. Beginning new case file. Subject: Jaune Arc. Greetings. It has been some time since we've done this, hasn't it. I thought I had seen it all under Lady Tsune, but the young Arc boy has proven me wrong.

"Context: Today, 12 November, 2019, a young human boy, one Jaune Arc, 17, was brought to my infirmary with minor bruising in multiple places and a somewhat depleted Aura. At first, I thought of turning him away and telling him to suck it up and let his Aura do it's job, but a young lady I assume to be his partner informed me of something wrong with his teeth. Taking a look, I soon saw what the young woman meant. Mr. Arc's teeth had supposedly grown beyond human standards while he was on a field trip in the Forever Fall forest. Curious, I subjected the boy to my standard test battery and the results are simply shocking.

"Details: MRI and CT scans show what appear to be the development of currently unknown bodies within Mr. Arc in several places, as well as an increase in the density of the subject's bones. Additionally, an x-ray showed changes in his rib cage; it appears that the ribs are growing larger, closer together. Finally, blood tests show the presence of unknown cells in his blood stream.

"Frankly, I am at a loss for an explanation. His urine sample came back normal, so drugs are ruled out, unless this is some new cocktail that doesn't show up on tests. However, what I have seen of the subject's character dissuades me from this line of thought. I have, of course, told the subject none of this and will be required to inform Headmaster Ozpin of these developments. As a precaution, I have scheduled multiple follow-ups with the subject in order to monitor his progress. Further details to follow in future entries." She paused as her stomach growled. Her tone changed back to scary cheery. "In other news, I'm hungry. End log."

XX

On the edge of Segmentum Pacificus, within the bowels of his Great Ship, Ragnar Blackmane observed the preparations for the next Warp jump. Beside him, preforming a ritual prayer to the God-Emperor was a young man around the age of thirty. He had black hair cut in a military style, a strip of fine cloth wrapped around his forehead, and wore robes he had only seen in one place in the entire Imperium.

"Do you think you can make it?" he asked the young man as he finished his personal ritual.

He smiled and looked up at Ragnar with blue eyes. "Lord Ragnar, your doubt wounds me. And after all my years of service." He joked.

Ragnar chuckled. "There is no doubting your skills, my friend, merely the task set before you."

Ragnar was an odd wolf amongst his Wolf Lord brethren. Not only was he the youngest Wolf Lord ever elected, he was- as far as he knew- also the only one of the current Lords to ever serve in the Wolfblade, a unique unit of Space Wolves that served as bodyguards and agents for the Navigators of House Belisarius, The Routs' most ancient allies, thus making him rather popular among the Chapter's Navigators. As a matter of fact, the young man standing before him, Julian Belisarius, was a descendent of his first ever charge as a Wolfblade; Gabriella Belisarius, a talented young Navigator whose skills seemed to have passed down to her great-nephew.

"So, I ask you again: do you think you can make it?"

Julian closed his eyes and a light shone from beneath the headband he wore. Ragnar knew he was gazing into the Warp with his Navigator sight, having seen it before many times.

Julian sighed. "The trail is bright and clear, even among the tempest of the Empyrean. I believe being so close to Holy Terra, and therefore the light of the Astronomican, helps. What concerns me is that I cannot see the end. We may very well be headed deep into uncharted territory, Lord Ragnar."

"Well, at the very least, you will be in the safest part of the ship while you lead us there." Ragnar shrugged.

_*All ships, prepare for Warp jump. May the Allfather guide us.*_

XX

A few hours later, Jaune sat on his bed in his dorm, doodling in his dream journal. Pyrrha had insisted that he take it easy the rest of the day, and- after a lengthy process of disguising herself- had left with Ren and Nora to get a pizza down in Vale. He understood Pyrrha's concern, and appreciated it, but still felt like she was going a bit too far at this point. He was perfectly capable of independent movement, albeit with something of a limp.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He pressed a button on his scroll.

"It's open!" he yelled. Ruby walked in, followed hesitantly by Weiss.

"Hey, Jaune." Ruby said, "How're you doing?"

"On the mend." Jaune shrugged. "Dr. Grey said there wasn't any major damage, so I've been working my Aura to focus on the places that hurt the worst."

"And, what about your, uh," she pointed to her teeth.

"Even she doesn't know what the hell is up there." Jaune said. From the corner of his eye, he saw Weiss placing herself strategically behind Ruby. "But if you want to hear it from me, there is not a single trace of Faunus heritage in my family."

Weiss visibly relaxed at that and spoke for the first time. "But that still leaves several questions. Namely, what, how, and why?"

"I have a theory abut that, actually." Ruby said with a smug smile.

"Ruby, no."

"What theory is that?" Jaune asked, genuinely interested.

"Jaune, don't encourage her." Weiss warned.

"Now, I want you to follow me on this." Ruby started.

"Oh, God, here we go." Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Mutation." Ruby said like that crazy-haired Ancient Aliens meme guy.

"For God's sake." Weiss groaned, "Ruby, for the last time, this is not one of your insipid X-Ray and Vav comics."

"Weiss, when you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however unlikely, must be the truth."

"Actually, it's not entirely impossible." Jaune said, Making both girls round on him, Ruby with a look of triumph, Weiss with one of utter disbelief. "Just really, really, _really _improbable. But how about we leave that to the people who know what they're doing, yeah?"

"Fine." Ruby submitted.

"Hmph. Thank you for being a fellow voice of reason, Jaune." Weiss said, preening.

"Watch it, Ice Queen, you're on thin ice as it is."

"What'd I do?"

"X-Ray and Vav is awesome, that's what you did." Jaune said with a grin.

Weiss scoffed and rolled her eyes while Ruby laughed at her. "Changing the subject, how did you know Cardin's weapon could do that? The collapsing bit."

"Honestly, I found the switch for it on accident. Glad I did though; something about dual-wielding felt kinda right."

"You did look more comfortable with it than you do with your sword and shield." Weiss agreed. "And I'll admit that your technique seemed to improve quite a bit."

"I'll say!" Ruby gushed, "That Beowolf didn't know what hit it! Swish! Slash! Wham!"

"Oh! That reminds me!" Jaune said, sifting through his binder after pulling it from his backpack. "I have something I would like to ask both of your help with." He pulled out a paper and handed it to the girls. Ruby's eyes widened as she took the paper from Weiss' hands and poured over it.

"Jaune, you are my favorite person in the world right now." Ruby said, her eyes shining.

"No problem." Jaune chuckled, "I was also hoping you could help me infuse that and Crocea Mors with ice Dust?" he said toward Weiss.

Weiss sighed, pulled out a handkerchief, wiped some of the drool from Ruby's mouth and took the plans from her. "Let me see those."

XX

"Are you sure about this Nora? I mean, we didn't even ask him if he would like it." Pyrrha asked her friend nervously.

Nora groaned as she carried the pizza boxes down the hallway. "Yes, Pyrrha, for the gazillionth time, I am sure."

"It's only the third time." Ren corrected.

"Details. Look, Pyrrha, first off, when the cafeteria serves pizza, it only ever serves pepperoni pizza, and Jaune usually downs 2-and-a-half to 3 slices of that every time. Secondly, it is a known fact that the only people who don't like stuffed crust pizza are the ones who haven't tried it yet."

"This is true." Ren nodded.

"Ergo, Jaune is going to love that we brought him stuffed crust pepperoni pizza."

"I still think we should have gotten him that pineapple and ham one." Pyrrha said. 'We could have shared it.' she thought.

Without missing a beat, Nora handed the pizza to Ren, wrapped an arm around Pyrrha's shoulders and sighed. "Pyrrha, if you ever listen to anything I say, please, let it be that ham and pineapple pizza is complete and utter heresy."

"Isn't that a little extre- "

"Say it!"

"I-it's heresy!"

"Good." Nora smiled, taking the pizza back from Ren. As they approached their dorm, the door opened and Ruby and Weiss walked out.

"Alright, Jaune, gimme a day or so with these and I'll have a list of necessary materials ready." Ruby said.

"And I'll figure out the adjustments we'll need to make to your sword." Weiss said.

"But don't think for a second that I'll be doing this for you. _You _will be making it."

"Of course, Rubes. Thank you both." Jaune said.

"What was that about, Jaune-Jaune?" Nora asked as Ruby and Weiss entered their own dorm room.

"Let's just say that today's little incident gave me some ideas for my equipment." Jaune said with a grin. "So, what kind of pie did you guys get?"

"Stuffed crust pepperoni." Pyrrha said as they entered the dorm room.

"Yes! My favorite!" he cheered, "I don't know that I could forgive you guys if you got that ham and pineapple heresy. Not even you, Pyr."

The entire night, Pyrrha tried to not look at Nora's shit-eating grin.

* * *

**Well, well, I wonder what Jaune has in the works? Maybe a certain weapon? A more savage one, perhaps? Only time will tell.**

**I actually took time off from RWBY Watches so I could put this out in time for Christmas, but it went faster than I expected once the juices started flowing. If you guys don't know who this Dr. Grey chick is, watch some RvB for God's sake. She's only one of the best characters from seasons 12 and 13, plus she's voiced by Arryn Zech, aka, Blake.**

**Well, I think I've earned my long winter's rest. May the Man-Emperor be with you all this holiday season, and I will catch you later.**


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter of Wolves of Remnant is dedicated to Monyreak "Monty" Oum.**

**Thank you for everything you did, for all us.**

**Rest in peace. Or work, whichever is more paradise for you.**

**Hey guys. Done with RWBY Watches for now, so it's time to turn back to WoR. Bit of a shorter chapter, but work has been messy lately, to say the least. Higher than usual levels of exhaustion do not make for good writing/ inspiration conditions, and neither does my first TPK in D&D the other night.**

**Today, we see another part of Leman Russ emerge in Jaune, as well as a little Arkos development (I hope).**

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 9

"You ready?" Ruby said seriously, looking up at Jaune.

"As I'll ever be." Jaune replied, nodding solemnly.

"Okay, take it off."

"Is this really necessary?" Jaune asked, turning around and taking off his hoodie.

"It's gonna get hot in there, so yes." Ruby said, taking off her hood and cape. She folded it almost reverently and placed it next to his hoodie. "Alright, let's do this."

Ruby opened the door next to her and the pair were immediately smothered by sweltering heat, followed swiftly after by loud clanging.

"Welcome, Jaune, to the Beacon forges!" Ruby exclaimed. The room was massive, easily the size of the school's ballroom and filled with at least a dozen fully stocked forges lined against one wall. Only a few were occupied, with the majority being operated by what Jaune assumed were employees of the school, and the others being used by older students. The other side of the room was lined by work benches filled with more students doing weapon maintenance.

"Figures that you would know about a place like this." Jaune joked to his weapon-loving friend. "Why don't you just put a work bench in your dorm? Or just use your desk?"

"One: Weiss and Yang wouldn't let me." Ruby pouted, "Two: too much of a hazard. All these tools are electric and having too many plugged in at once is liable to start a fire or cause a blackout."

"You say that last part as if you have experience. And that kind of terrifies me."

Ruby ignored him and led him to a workbench, taking out his plans. "Alright, me and Weiss looked over the plans in detail, and it looks like modifying your sword will be the most complicated part of the process since we will basically have to rebuild it completely. The other we can just build with an ice Dust compartment in mind, but the sword will have to be taken apart."

Jaune winced and laid a protective hand on Crocea Mors. "Is there any way around it? Crocea Mors is a family heirloom, so I want her to stay as unmodified as possible."

"I get that, Jaune, but something's got to give. How old is she anyway?"

"Not quite sure. I know my great-great grandfather used her in the Great War, but past that, I'm not sure."

Ruby thought for a time. "What about the shield? How old is that?"

"Not as old as the blade. Why?"

"Well, since you're against internal mods to the blade, that only leaves external mods. The shield is clearly younger than the blade since mecha-shift tech is still fairly recent, so we could modify that to hold the Dust."

"And since I'm planning to adopt a dual-wield fighting style, what use is a shield? Clever girl." Jaune said, following her logic. He smiled, flashing his new fangs- there really was no other word for them- and Ruby returned it, looking just as vicious.

"Let's get to it then."

XX

Two weeks later

Jaune smiled as he sat down with his friends in Combat Class. He had been looking forward to this. He and Ruby had been hard at work over the past two weeks, using every piece of spare time they could between classes, studying, and training to get their little secret project done. And it was a secret to them, with Weiss being the only one also in on their plans and no one else. They had even taken to calling it Project Attika, and convinced Weiss to play along for the sake of her sanity. Jaune hated to keep secrets from his friends and teammates, but he wanted it to be a surprise for them, as well as their classmates.

And now it was time to put the final product through its paces in a controlled, full-combat exercise.

Professor Goodwitch walked into the arena and gave her usual speech before she activated the randomizer on her scroll tablet to decide who would be the first combatant. This was how it always was; Goodwitch would randomly choose one student as a fighter, and then asked for volunteers. However, if there were none, she would randomly choose the opponent for them.

When Jaune saw who the poor sod was, his hand couldn't shoot up fast enough.

"First up, Cardin Winchester. Are there any- ah, Mr. Arc. Are you quite sure about this?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"Absolutely, ma'am."

"I gotta agree with the prof on this one, Jauney-boy." Cardin said as the two went to their lockers on the wall and took out their gear. "Your record in the ring ain't exactly stellar. You sure about this?" Cardin stepped into the ring with his mace over one shoulder.

"Neither is your record with Grimm, if memory serves." Jaune said as he closed his locker.

The entire class laughed and jeered at the exchange while Cardin's face flushed in anger and embarrassment.

"You just signed your own death warrant, bitch." Cardin muttered, tightening his grip on his mace.

Jaune stepped into the ring and surprised his class with his easy confidence.

"Alright, gentlemen, you know the rules. Ring out or loss of Aura marks a win." Goodwitch said from outside the ring.

Ruby and Weiss leaned forward, causing their friends and team to do the same out of sheer curiosity. Jaune drew his sword, leaving it in the sheathe.

"You take a few too many knocks to the head there, Arc?" Cardin taunted. "Or do you just want this over quickly?"

Jaune responded with a grin and thumbed a button on the hilt below the guard. The hilt extended a small bit, allowing for a more versatile grip, while the edges of the sheathe revealed blades hidden within and began to exude an icy mist. He held the blade in a two-handed ready while Cardin assumed his single handed ready.

"Begin!" Goodwitch shouted.

Cardin charged Jaune, who responded with a charge of his own. Cardin went for a crushing overhead blow and Jaune responded with a slashing block just below the head, deflecting the blow to the side. The boys passed each other and maneuvered for another pass. This time, Cardin aimed at Jaune's sword arm, but Jaune rolled backwards, channeling Aura to his legs as he landed and launching himself at Cardin with a vicious thrust.

As Cardin recoiled from the blow, he felt an intense cold radiating out from the point of impact. Looking down, he saw that a portion of his armor was icing up. Pouring Aura into his fist, Cardin punched the ice to clear it a bit.

"Tch, so you got yourself some tricks, eh, Arc?"

"That's just the start, Cardin." Jaune said as he reached behind him and pulled out a large headed, saw toothed hand axe. He pressed a button above the grip and the haft extended a good three feet, making the weapon a full axe. "And you're gonna be my guinea pig for the rest."

Cardin's mind raced. He knew he was at a disadvantage with just his mace, and that stab he took bled off a small portion of his Aura. His mind told him that the sensible option was to resign, but his ego promptly beat that notion to oblivion. He was Cardin fucking Winchester! His family had been soldiers and huntsmen for the past six generations. All their knowledge and experience culminated in him, so there was no damned way this scrawny little puke would be able to beat him.

On the other side of the ring, Jaune was exhilarated. The redesigned Crocea Mors was working exactly as designed, and the axe had deployed beautifully. He'd have to come with a name for it later. He had felt the beast rising within him, but it felt more manageable now that both his hands were full. All he had to do now was beat Cardin. He glanced up to check his Aura; still full, but a bit more so than Cardin. With no real practice with his new style under his belt, red-zoning Cardin was out. He either had to force a surrender or ring him out.

As he thought, Cardin charged, catching Jaune off guard and forcing him back with a flurry of swings, each of which Jaune easily dodged. He saw his chance when Cardin set up for another two-handed crushing blow. Quickly, Jaune crossed his blades over his head and caught the blow just below the mace head. Cardin leant in, trying to force the mace head to reach Jaune's head. What he didn't notice was the ice once again building up at the point of contact.

Jaune responded by squeezing the plunger that popped up under his fingers when the axe extended. An internal motor roared and the saw teeth on the axe began to churn, cutting into the metal haft with a shower of sparks.

"What the fuck!?" Cardin yelled over the roaring motor.

Jaune wasted no time and pulled his weapons apart, cutting the head from the mace in a shower of sparks and ice crystals. Cardin fell backwards onto his back. He opened his eyes to see Jaune standing over him, his sword to his throat and the flanged head of his mace on the ground behind Jaune.

"And with that, Mr. Arc takes the match." Prof. Goodwitch announced.

The room erupted with cheers from Teams RWBY and JNPR, and applause from everyone else, even Dove Bronzewing and Sky Lark.

"Arc cheated." Cardin declared as he picked himself up off the ground.

"How so?" Goodwitch asked, with a tone of warning.

"I came up here expecting an even fight, and then this bastard goes and pulls a second weapon on me. How is that fair?"

"It isn't." The blonde teacher said plainly. "But then, fairness is not the point." She turned to the class. "What Mr. Arc did is a perfectly acceptable strategy. It is always in a Huntsman or Huntress's best interest to go into a fight with as many advantages as possible, including the element of surprise. While this may not be particularly necessary when fighting Grimm, is essential when fighting a human opponent.

"Of course, the downside to this is that now you all know his little trick, and it would behoove all of you to develop potential countermeasures should you face him in the future. But above all, remember this: in a fight, there is no place for honor or fairness. Those who hold on to such ideals will wind up dead or worse. Now, Mr. Arc, Mr. Winchester, take your seats so we can begin the next match."

As Jaune marched back up to his team after putting his gear away, Nora brought him into a tight hug.

"You were great!" she said.

"Thanks, Nora." he grunted back with a smile. He walked over to Ruby, gave her a high ten and a hug, and shook Weiss' hand.

"So?" Ruby asked, "How did it feel?"

"So much more natural than the sword and board." He sighed in relief. "The mecha-shift worked perfectly, and the Dust worked the way we discussed. I can't think of any way to improve them."

"So that's what you guys have been working on for the past two weeks." Pyrrha realized. She had been worried they had been doing… something else.

"Yeah. The idea came to me after what happened in Forever Fall, and I wanted to surprise you guys."

"Well, color me surprised." Ren said.

Jaune smiled and sat down next to Pyrrha as they watched Yang go up against another first year who was using a longsword and firing energy beams from a gauntlet in his free hand. An idea came to mind, and he pulled out his scroll. Next to him, Pyrrha's scroll pinged, alerting her to a new text message. Setting it to vibrate as she pulled it out, she found the text was from Jaune.

_Jaune: hey. was thinking i should get a firearm of some kind, just in case. wanna come with me to Vale and pick one out?_

_Pyr: Absolutely! When did you have in mind?_

_Jaune: we're off after this class. maybe grab a shower, then head out?_

_Pyr: Sounds like a plan. Should we bring Ren and Nora?_

_Jaune: ren said he was going to try and get nora to study later._

_Jaune: almost forgot! have to call home first, let dad know what I did with Crocea Mors. *gulp*_

_Pyr: If he's anything like your sister, then it was nice knowing you._

_Jaune: traitor_

_Pyr: XP_

* * *

**What can I say? Short chapter is short.**

**Hope you guys liked it, cuz I had fun writing it.**

**Be sure to Follow, Favorite, and leave a Review, and I will catch you later.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Kinda wrote myself into putting this out now with my little message the other day, but what the hell. It's St. Patty's Day, and I'm happy with it. Just remember what I told you guys: wash your hands, cover your mouths using your elbows, and you'll be fine.**

**Today, Jaune talks to his dad, Arkos goes shopping, and someone makes an appearance.**

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 10

"Now, son, I want you to calm down, and tell me what you need to tell me. Understand?"

Jaune took a deep breath and exhaled. He had waited until Pyrrha was in the shower to call his father about what he had done with Crocea Mors. Felt like it would be less awkward for both of them that way.

"Okay. Well, it has to do with Crocea Mors." He said a little hesitantly.

"What happened to her?" his father asked. Jaune could practically imagine the darkness spreading over his face.

"Well, you see… I might have… modified her? Just a little?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Jaune was sure his old man was going through breathing exercises to try and keep his considerable temper under control.

"And?" his father answered.

"What?"

"And? What else?"

"Uh, nothing else. I had a friend of mine here help me modify her so I could fight better. End of story." Jaune's worry had evaporated and been replaced by confusion at this point.

His father sighed loudly on the other end of the line. "Dammit, son, you're going to give your old man a heart attack one of these days."

"I think I'm missing something here." How could his dad be this cool about this? Crocea Mors was _the_ family heirloom. In his mind, to modify it in any way was an absolute sign of disrespect for his family and heritage.

"Son, how old do you think that sword is?"

"Well, it was used by an Arc in the Great War, so, maybe a hundred years old? At least?"

"Yeah, that's about what I guessed when I was your age." Joseph chuckled. "Jaune, Crocea Mors is over half a millennia old, and has always been used by an Arc, be it a man or a woman, soldier or militia or Huntsman. It is the tradition of this family for every warrior who wields her to modify her in some way. Before you, your grandpa Johnathan made the shield collapsible to make transportation less of an issue. Before him, your ancestor Leanne had the blade replaced with one made of adamant, the strongest metal on the planet."

"Seriously?"

"Deadly serious, son. You've done nothing wrong by modifying Crocea Mors. In fact, you've made me proud to have given her to you."

"Huh." Jaune grinned and felt the stress wash off his shoulders.

"So, tell me, what all did you do to her?"

"Well, context first. Turns out the sword and shield wasn't a good style for me, despite having an amazing fighter try to teach me. After an… incident on a field trip, I asked a couple friends of mine to help me tweak the shield a bit. Now, when you sheathe her, you can turn the sword into a broadsword with an added Ice Dust element."

"Interesting. So you're going with a two-handed style?"

"Well, yes and no. I can use Crocea Mors two-handed if I want, but I prefer to use a new chainaxe I built in my free hand."

"And by chainaxe, you mean…?"

"An axe with a chainsaw for a blade, yes."

"Well, if it works for you, I suppose."

There was a long pause, and Jaune felt it was time to wrap things up when he heard the shower turn off.

"Well, Pop, I gotta cut you off here. I'm going into Vale with one of my teammates, and she's almost ready."

"Wait, she?"

"Tellthegirlsilovethemkaythanksbye!" He hung up and turned off his scroll before slumping backward on his bed. "Oh, God, that was terrifying."

"What was that about?" Pyrrha called from the shower, "And could you hand me the clothes I picked out?"

Jaune dutifully grabbed the jeans and t-shirt Pyrrha had picked out for herself, placed them at the entrance of the bathroom, and knocked on the door as a signal. It was a routine that had been firmly established in the first week of school at Ren's insistence- and to Nora's dismay Jaune suspected.

"Well, for the sake of context, I just called my Dad to tell him about Crocea Mors." He told her, sitting on the edge of Ren's bed.

"How did he take it?"

"Surprisingly well. If anything, he was proud of me."

"That's good. So what was the horrifying part?" She asked, coming out of the bathroom wearing her blue jeans and a snug t-shirt with a picture of Pumpkin Pete on it.

"Well, as I was saying goodbye, I told him I was heading into Vale with one of my teammates, and I accidentally let slip that said teammate is a woman."

"Is that a problem?" She asked him with a cocked eyebrow.

"Normally, no. but when you grow up as the lone male among eight children, well… let's just say that mom can get pushy and everyone else is nosey."

"Truly, it is a miracle you made it this far." She smirked.

"Are you ready?" He said, brushing off her sarcasm with a smile.

"Almost. I just need to put on a few things." She said, reaching for a hat, sunglasses and a black medical mask.

As the pair walked down the hall to the Bullhead docks, Glynda Goodwitch emerged from around the corner. Coolly, she walked up t Team JNPR's dorm and used her scroll to unlock the door using her administrative privileges.

Ozpin and her had been investigating Arc since he made it through initiation, but had so far turned up nothing of true significance. Glynda had known Joseph Arc as an underclassman when she went to Beacon, and she trusted his reputation. His three eldest were easy enough to track down, with the eldest, Saphron, being the only person of interest, being married to a woman who worked with Atlas hardware for a living. Arc's twin was also of interest with her rather rapid rise within the ranks of the local militia. The other three were still in grade school, with Lucy being the only one who concerned Glynda. She still did not understand how a 15 year old girl was capable of writing one of the most popular erotic internet stories she had ever laid eyes on; and that was saying something, considering she had already read the entire Ninjas of Love series and had a pre-order for the next addition in two months time.

Beyond that, the investigation had stalled out. All in all, the Arc family had led a rather boring life after Joseph hung up his sword and settled down with the then Suzie Q to start a family. And from what she had gathered from accounts of Attika's citizens, they had raised their children properly. With that, Ozpin had downgraded Arc to a curiosity and a potential ally. But Glynda was still unconvinced.

She had seen a copy of Arc's transcripts and they had seemed familiar to her. She had run a check across all current Beacon student transcripts, and when that failed, she expanded the search to students within the last 25 years, when Joseph had attended. It had taken a few days, but she came up with a single exact match. The name on them was Roman Torchwick.

Ozpin had been disturbed by the news, but was not willing to do anything about it. Glynda, however, absolutely was. The usual means had been exhausted, so it was time for the direct approach.

Half an hour later, she was stood in the middle of Team JNPR's dorm room, fuming at the absolute lack of anything incriminating. She had expected a few things, of course, this being the dorm room of four hormonal young men and women. Arc himself had a small stash of pornographic magazines featuring women both human and Faunus and with varying colors of skin, and Lie Ren had a similar stash of the Mistrali version- 'hentai' she believed it was called- that seemed to focus on women with short orange hair. Nora Valkyrie had a hidden stash of lacey underwear and other such garments that would leave absolutely nothing to any man's imagination, and even Pyrrha Nikos had something similar stashed in the back of her dresser. These were things she was prepared for and it was all she had to show for her time. She was about to storm out and call it quits when she noticed a journal on Arcs' desk.

Opening it, her anger vanished as she quickly realized that not a word of what was written in it was in the Common Tongue, nor was it like any language she had seen in nearly 30 years as a Huntress. The book contained what looked like normal journal written in what looked to her to be some sort of runic script.

"Finally." She muttered as she took out her Scroll and spent the next half hour photographing every page in the journal.

Ozpin aside, she knew there was only one man in Beacon who could possibly decipher this language. However, if she wanted him to get it done quickly and efficiently enough, she knew she was going to have to spend a lot of money on coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

XX

"So, what did you have in mind?" the owner of the gun store, a grizzled old man with a thick brown beard and a tattered ballcap, asked Jaune.

"Well, I'm pretty much looking for a side arm of some kind." He told the clerk. "My primaries are a long sword and a custom-made battle axe, but I figured that a ranged option couldn't hurt."

"You ever handle a gun before, son?"

"Not once in my life."

"And you got into Beacon?"

"Do you need to see my student ID? My partner can back me up if you want." The owner nodded, and Jaune and Pyrrha got out their scrolls. Reluctantly, Pyrrha took off her disguise so that the man could properly identify her.

"Seriously? You're Pyrrha freaking Nikos?"

"I am. Hello." She said bashfully.

"Well, ain't that a kick? My boys are fans of yours."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"Name's Bob Singer." He said offering Jaune his hand.

"Jaune Arc."

"Heard about you too. The boys were ranting and raving for a week when they heard you got the leader slot over your partner, bless their idjit hearts. Come on back, I'll let you take a look at our selection."

Behind the store was a firing range with three stations, backed by a wall filled with guns of every kind. After a short safety briefing, he brought Jaune over to the wall.

"Now, any specifics you're looking for to narrow your choices?" he asked Jaune.

"Stopping power, and some kind of magazine are the first things that come to mind."

"Well, that eliminates revolvers, a personal favorite of mine, I'll have you know."

"Oops?"

"Now, if you're looking for stopping power, I think this would be the best option." He handed Jaune a massive handgun with a rail on the barrel. "Desert Eagle XIX. Semi-automatic and capable of chambering the largest centerfire cartridge of any self-loading pistol. Idjit kids like to call her the Deagle."

"What kind of ammo does it take?" Pyrrha asked for Jaune.

"_She_ can fire .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum and .50 Action Express. There's a few others, but those three are the ones I keep in stock. You okay there, son?" he asked seeing the look on Jaune's face.

"Huh? Wha?"

"He asked if you're okay, Jaune." Pyrrha repeated.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. Um, can I try this thing out a bit?"

"Thought you said you don't know how to use a gun." Bobby said with a frown.

"I do!" Pyrrha said eagerly, "I can teach him the proper stance."

"Hmph. Alright, we'll start you on the .44 and see how you handle it."

With that, Bobby left them alone and Pyrrha led Jaune over to one of the ranges, setting him up in a proper sweeper stance and showing him proper gun range behavior. The owner came back with a trio of earmuffs and a pair of fully loaded magazines.

"The amount of ammo you have per clip differs depending on the caliber of round you use. In this case, you'll have eight shots per clip with a .44 caliber round. Now, show us what you got kid." He set the clips down next to Jaune and backed away with Pyrrha and put on their head gear. Strangely enough, Jaune loaded the clip, chambered the round and lined up his shot with the expertise of a man with twenty years of experience under his belt. He unloaded the clip into the target before ejecting it, clearing the chamber and turning the safety back on.

"Don't like it when folks lie to me, boy." Bobby said as he pushed a button and Jaune's target came towards them.

"I swear to the Brothers and Maidens I've never handled a gun before in my life." Jaune professed.

"Sure about that?" Jaune's target reached them and he saw two tight groupings on the silhouette target. "Cuz I've never seen a beginner get three headshots and five center of mass on his first try."

"Does this mean no sale?" Pyrrha asked, clearly worried.

Singer stared at Jaune for a while before letting out a sigh. "Normally it would, but there's something in my gut telling me this is for the best. Come back to the front of the shop and I'll walk you through the paperwork. It'll take the better part of a month to get processed, but once it does, I'll give you a call and you can pick it up here. Ammo's a different story. Don't know how Beacon works, but according to Vale law, you'll have to keep the ammo stored separately from the weapon, with locks on both."

"Beacon follows the same rules." Pyrrha informed him.

"Good. I can sell you a couple lockers if you want."

"We're assigned them when we start at Beacon."

"Alright. We'll talk more once the paperwork is approved."

"Deal." Jaune said, shaking Bobby's hand.

XX

"Welp, that's that taken care of." Jaune said as he and Pyrrha walked out of the shop, Pyrrha now re-masked.

"I'm still trying to figure out what happened in there." She said, her voice understandably muffled.

"You're not alone."

"What was it like from your perspective?"

"It's hard to explain. Just holding that gun… it's like instinct just took over."

"What about you know who?"

"Now that you mention it, it almost felt like he was happy. Like he liked it when I squeezed the trigger."

"Oh, that's, um…"

"It's fucked up is what it is. Am I right?"

"That's about what I was going for, yes."

"Jaune? Is that you?" a pair of new voices said behind the pair. Jaune froze in place. There was no fucking way. He turned around and saw two girls with black hair and green eyes standing behind them. They looked nearly identical, except that one wore white clothes and had long, straight hair, and the other wore red and had much shorter hair.

"Mel? Mil? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's us." The white girl said.

"It's been, what? Five, seven years since we last saw you?" the red one said.

"Thereabouts." He answered, a smile forming on his face.

"Well, don't just stand there gawking like some kind of creeper."

"Yeah, get over here and give us a hug."

Jaune laughed as he walked up to the twins and hugged them fiercely. A pit began to form in Pyrrha's stomach, fearing the worst.

"Well, what the fuck are you doing here, cuz?" the short haired one said.

'Wait, cuz? As in cousin?' The pit began to shrink.

"I got into Beacon." Jaune said, pointing back towards the school.

"Ha! Pay up, bitch!" the white-clad girl cheered. Her twin grumbled as she pulled out her pocketbook. "We heard from Joan that you had applied, and put our bets on your success."

"You just lost me a hundred lien, bastard." Red said.

"Jaune, how do you know these two?" Pyrrha asked.

"Fuck, right, sorry." He moved back over to Pyrrha. He wanted to introduce them, but remembered why Pyrrha had dressed the way she did. "Over here." He took Pyrrha by the hand and led the trio of women to a nearby alley. "Mel, Mil, this is Pyrrha, my partner at Beacon. Pyrrha, this is Melanie and Miltia Malachite. They're my cousins."

"Wait, you're the Champion from Mistral, aren't you?" Melanie asked, making Pyrrha wince.

"Well, well, the Invincible Girl is dating her partner? Talk about scandalous." Miltia teased.

Pyrrha's face turned the same shade of red as her hair while Jaune charged Miltia and clamped a hand over her mouth. He closed his eyes and engaged his Semblance, taking a deep breath through his nose and listening intently. Thankfully, it seemed no one else was around to overhear anything.

"Fucking hell, Mil." He growled, "Think about what you're saying before you tease people like that. Man, she really hasn't changed a bit, has she, Mel?"

"She really hasn't." Melanie said.

"Oh, come on." Miltia complained. "Even if she's famous, I doubt it was really that bad."

"Well…" Pyrrha said uncomfortably.

"Wait, seriously?" Pyrrha nodded. "How bad we talking?" Miltia asked hesitantly.

"It's not as bad as you think. I'm used to it at this point."

"Pyr, remember how you told us your parents took out restraining orders against five different people within your last two years of competition?" Jaune said, not buying her bull. Pyrrha's face fell, but Jaune gave her a side hug. "But don't worry. That was back in Mistral, and you're at Beacon now. And so long as you're a member of JNPR, me, Ren and especially Nora will do whatever it takes to keep your past from getting to you."

"Thanks, Jaune." She smiled and returned the hug.

"Ugh, I think I'm gonna get diabetes from how sweet this all is." Miltia groaned.

Melanie giggled at her sister's antics. "So, Pyrrha, how would you like to hear some embarrassing stories about your partner as a kid?"

"Hey, hold up a minute." Jaune said, suddenly worried.

"That would depend on how embarrassing the stories are."

"Pyr!"

"Let's answer that with a question." Melanie said, wrapping her arm around Pyrrha's shoulder.

"How old do you think Jaune was when he stopped wearing onesies?" MIltia asked, mirroring her sister.

"He stopped?" Pyrrha asked.

This caused both twins to turn and look at Jaune with wide eyed, shit-eating grins.

"DAMN YOU, TANYA!" he roared to the heavens.

XX

That night, four individuals had a unique experience as they slept: a shared dream. In this dream, each individual was nude but for a white light that covered their private areas. As they bickered with each other, they were silenced by a great boom as a golden humanoid figure came into existence before them and spoke.

"**Coco Adel, Velvet Scarlatina, Cardin Winchester, and Sun Wukong. You are needed."**

Normally, any one of them would have spoken up in defiance of the golden being, but they found themselves too enraptured by his words.

"**I come to you now with a warning. Your home and those you know and care for are in peril."**

An image of Beacon flashed before their eyes, followed by images of their families and friends.

"**The Fall will come soon, at a time of celebration. The disaster cannot be avoided, but the damage can be minimized. Forces are already in motion that can save your Kingdoms and your homeworld, but there is one person crucial to your success. One whom all four of you know or will come to know soon enough."**

An image of Jaune appeared before them.

"**This man will lead your world to salvation. Protect him, and heed his words. Beware the Maiden, and those who serve her."**

An image appeared of two individuals, one male with silver hair, one female with mint green hair, both about their age and standing before another female with raven hair and a single amber-colored eye.

"Who are you?" Velvet asked.

The golden figure's head turned to her, almost in curiosity. The light that enveloped him faded, revealing a man in shining gold plate armor and with long, perfect black hair.

"**Know me, for I am the Emperor of Mankind, it all its myriad forms."**

XX

**And so, the new Inquisition is formed.**

**This is another thing I picked up from vixvix, but I wanted to make it a bit more me. People in my other fic sometimes complain that I cast Cardin in all these irredeemable roles, so I figured I would try something different for a change.**

**Also, the Malachites. What can I say? After reading Service With a Smile by Coeur Al'Aran, I realize the gift RT gave us with those two. Might as well use them.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Ah, man, does it feel good to be back to this! I am so sorry it took me three months to come up with this. First, I took April off from writing due to massive burn out. Then, I poured all my time into RWBY Watches The Empire Strikes Back, and don't even get me started on that can of stress-filled worms.**

**But, I'm back on point, and the story of Jaune Leman Russ Arc can now continue. Consider this the first part of the Season 1 finale.  
**

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 11

"Letting you anywhere near those two was a mistake." Jaune grumbled, his hands crammed into his pockets as he and Pyrrha walked back to the airship docks.

"Oh, come on, Jaune, it wasn't that bad." Pyrrha said.

"Easy for you to say. You weren't the one being embarrassed."

"Jaune, come on."

"How in the hell did they even get those pictures?" Jaune said, "I specifically told Mom to burn them."

"I don't know. Maybe cloud storage?"

Jaune stopped in place. Pyrrha nearly burst out laughing as she saw things adding up in his head and Jaune almost burst out into a string of curses when he heard familiar voices nearing the docks. Looking over, he saw Team RWBY approaching. Weiss and Blake were clearly having it out up ahead, but years of experience told him it was best to leave that be. Instead, he turned to an exasperated-looking Ruby and an uncomfortable-looking Yang.

"Hey guys." He said.

"Hey Jaune." Ruby sighed. "Sorry if we're not exactly cheery."

"I can see why. How long have they been like this?"

"Since about noon." Yang said, "There hasn't been a single place we went to they haven't been at each other's throats."

"What started it?" Pyrrha asked, "If that's okay."

"No, it's fine. You're probably gonna hear about it anyway, living across the hall and everything." Ruby said, "We came into the city cuz Weiss wanted to see how Vale celebrated the Vytal Festival and greet the people coming in from Vacuo- "

"Here translated as 'spy on the competition'." Yang said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Pretty much, yeah. Anyway, we were at the docks and noticed a crime scene. Another Dust shop robbery where only the Dust was taken. We heard the detectives mention the White Fang. That was probably the start of it."

"Like five seconds later, we heard some shouting coming from the docks." Yang continued as Ruby walked over to the girls to stop them from getting things physical. "We saw a Faunus guy jump off a ship, followed by a pair of guards. A stowaway, apparently. After that, well, things basically turned into this."

"They're really going at it." Pyrrha commented. "What was said exactly?"

"Weiss took some shots at the White Fang, and Blake started getting defensive when she started generalizing about Faunus. Then, Blake started taking shots at Weiss."

"So, they're both just butt hurt." Jaune concluded. "Just let 'em hash it out for however long it takes. They're big girls; they'll get over it."

"You really think it's that simple?" Yang asked, an eyebrow quirked.

"It worked for my sisters and I." he shrugged as the Bullhead came in. "And if they don't, Ozpin will probably step in. Or Ruby will. It's up to her whether or not you guys participate at Vytal, after all."

"Seriously?" Yang asked shocked.

Jaune gave her a side-long grin as he and Pyrrha boarded. "I can neither confirm nor deny that."

XX

Jaune growled as his slammed his pencil down on his desk. He was working on his Dust Chemistry homework with Ren in the dorm, but it was hard to concentrate. Not only was Nora tantalizing him with a fresh pizza while he worked, but Weiss and Blake were still going at it across the hall.

"I'm about ready to walk over there and give them an attitude adjustment myself." He told Ren.

"Justified as it might be, and as much as Ruby and Yang might allow it, do really think you have it in you?" Ren asked.

"If reason cannot be applied, unreasonable means must be taken." Abruptly, the shouting across the hall abruptly stopped.

"Well, looks like 'unreasonable means' won't be required this time." Pyrrha joked. Jaune, however was frowning.

He liked to think he had a decent understanding of female behavior thanks to living with an increasing number of women over seventeen years, and he knew that if women were fighting and things suddenly got quiet, worse things were to come. Whatever was happening in Team RWBY's dorm, he knew it was nothing good.

Suddenly, he heard the door across the hall slam open, followed by Ruby calling Blake's name. He opened his own door and saw his best friend standing in the hallway, Blake nowhere to be seen, but her scent led down the hall in the direction Ruby was looking.

"Ruby?" he asked softly.

"Don't Jaune." He heard Yang say as his fellow blonde stepped up behind her sister, "Just don't."

XX

Two days later

"Okay, now I'm worried." Jaune said as Team JNPR sat down for breakfast with Team RWBY as they always did, but once again, they were short one Blake.

The looks on the faces of their sister team were mixed. Ruby's hair was fraying with how worried she was, Yang seemed dimmer than her usual self- probably also worried for her partner and sad she hadn't yet returned- while Weiss was practically expressionless, a great contrast from her usual prim confidence.

"She still isn't back?" Pyrrha asked. RW_Y gave her deadpan looks. "I'm sorry, that was a dumb question."

"Pyr, what have I told you about apologizing?"

"'It's a sign of weakness.'" She sighed reminding herself of Jaune Arc Rule #6, "I'm- it won't happen again."

"You guys are going out to look for her again, I assume?"

"What else can we do?" Yang asked.

"Let her be?" Weiss offered.

"How can you say that, Weiss?" Ren asked.

"Yeah! She's your teammate for pancakes sake!" Nora agreed.

"She's also a big girl. She can handle herself on her own." Weiss fired back.

"Oh, for the love of- is this because she's a Faunus?" Jaune asked. Every single one of Team RWBY's faces dropped and they stared at him.

"Wut?" was all Yang could muster.

"You know, the whole bull about Schnees and their treatment of faunus?" more blank stares and the pieces connected in Jaune's head. "You guys don't know, do you?" More staring. Jaune sighed, pulled out his Scroll and began working with it. "Let's start with the obvious, then. Her bow."

"Her bow?" Ruby asked, regaining some of her sense.

"Yup."

"What about it?"

"Have any of you ever noticed how it manages to stay perfectly upright? Even in the wind tunnel on the east side of campus? Or how it looks suspiciously like cat ears? Or that she never, ever takes it off, even to take a shower?"

"Getting weirdly personal, Vomit Boy." Yang said, her eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, how did you know about that last bit?" Ruby asked. Pyrrha and Nora raised their hands.

"That's how. Mostly Nora." Jaune said, pointing a thumb at his female teammates.

"I sometimes people watch when I get bored." She said cheerily.

"And what about her name?" Jaune said, showing them his scroll, which displayed a picture of a tall, brawny man with black hair and an impressive black beard. "Do you know who this is?" The entire team shook their heads. "That is the Chieftain of Menagerie, Ghira _Belladonna._ He is also the founder and former High Leader of the White Fang."

"Are you serious?" Yang said, pulling his hand to get a better look.

"And this," he ran his finger over the screen and panned the picture to a female faunus with black hair and the barest signs of wrinkles around her eyes, "Is his wife, Kali. Look familiar?"

"She's a dead ringer for Blake…"

"Or Blake is a dead ringer for her." Jaune said.

"How did we miss this?" Ruby asked, staring down at the table.

"I think the bigger question, is how did _you_ miss this?" Jaune pointed a finger at Weiss, snapping her out of her funk. "The hatred between the SDC and the White Fang is legendary. How could the heiress of the company not know her enemy or their history?"

"I- I-" Weiss stammered before taking a moment to collect herself. "I wasn't always the heiress, you know. The position was originally my sister's until she gave it up when she joined the military."

"I'm hearing excuses, not answers, Ice Queen."

"That's besides the point, Arc." She replied angrily.

"And what is the point, Princess?"

"That we have been living with a White Fang terrorist for the past four months and none of us noticed!"

"Wrong." Nora said.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard her." Jaune said. "The point is that your friend, who happens to have ties to the White Fang, is missing, and the White Fang are currently acting up in the city. Whatever her past with them is, she is still your teammate and our friend, and she is in potential danger out there on her own. We all know she's skilled, but in the right situation, quantity has a quality of it's own. Now, I suggest we finish our food, and then we will all go out and look for her. Together."

"Jaune- " Ruby said.

"No arguments Ruby." Jaune cut her off, "Like I said, Blake is our friend as much as she is yours. I appreciate that you feel this should be kept in-house, but I am not in the habit of leaving friends behind and I know you aren't either. Besides, you have to admit that my Semblance would help expedite things."

Ruby glare-pouted hard at him, until Yang put a hand on her shoulder. "He has a point, Rubes."

"Alright, fine." Ruby sighed.

"Glad we're on the same page." Jaune smiled warmly, "All I need before we leave is something with her scent on it for reference. The riper, the better." The entire table sat in silence for a moment. "And I just realized how wrong that sounded as soon as I said it out loud."

XX

Twenty minutes later, Teams RW_Y and JNPR stepped off the Bullhead into Vale, fully armed and with Jaune clutching one of Blake's dirty undershirts in hand.

"Alright, Jaune, you're up." Ruby said, motioning Jaune forward. The scruffy blonde nodded and lifted the shirt up to take a deep whiff. Since unlocking his Semblance, Jaune had come to learn that each person had their own distinct smell.

There were often commonalities, like when two people coincidentally used the same shampoo in the shower, or the same deodorant or perfume, and that could sometimes mask the smell if they used too much, but more often than not, they eventually became additions to the overall scent. For example, Nora's scent was a mixture of strawberries, pancakes, maple syrup, and just a hint of Dust compounds from when she made her own grenades.

Additionally, Faunus had a property to their scents that simply wasn't present in humans. He couldn't quite place it, but if he had to describe it, it would be something primal, animalistic even. It sounded racist, sure, but it was unfortunately accurate. When he smelled Blake's shirt, he picked up the scent of body odor mixed with lavender and fish. He tossed it back to Yang and smelled the air itself. He panned his head from left to right until he had it- there! On his two o' clock headed into the commercial district.

"Got her." he said, pointing in the direction. "We should probably split up so we can cover more ground."

"I agree, but whoever finds her, call us." Ruby said, "She's on our team, we should be the first ones to talk to her."

"Fair enough. Why don't you guys head straight in? Me and Pyrrha will go along the river and skirt the residential and industrial districts, make sure she hasn't crossed over. Nora, Ren, you guys go north and look along the walls. From what I've heard, that's where the largest population of squatters is. Perfect place to hide out in. Any developments go through Ruby first, then the other team."

"Aaaand, break!" Nora said, punching the air and running off with Ren over her shoulder.

"Gimme a sec, Pyr. Weiss!" the white-haired girl turned as he approached.

"What do you want, Arc?" she asked, arms crossed over her chest.

"For you to think about what you've just learned. As the heiress to a legacy that has been more than a little sullied in recent years, I think Blake is someone you can relate to."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, and neither do you, Arc."

Jaune grinned and began to walk away. "Maybe, maybe not. Just think about it, Princess."

XX

A few hours later

Jaune and Pyrrha had reached a curve in the river and could see where it flowed into the ocean. They had passed by nearly a half-dozen bridges in the time since they had split from the group and Jaune hadn't picked up Blake's scent once. He was simultaneously grateful and worried by that.

True, it meant that she probably hadn't come this way in the two days she had been gone, and thusly validated his plan… but then again, she had been gone two days. He was still relatively new to tracking via scent, but he was fairly sure that a person's scent didn't linger that long. The best he could hope for was a fresh trail.

As he finished asking the owner of a bakery if he or any of his employees had seen Blake, showing them a photo of her Ruby had sent to everyone's Scroll, he was relieved to hear that one of them had seen her walking around with a blonde male with a monkey tail following her that morning in the commercial district. He thanked them and sent Ruby an update as he left.

Looking up, his breath caught in his chest when he saw Pyrrha. She stood facing the river, her eyes closed as she allowed the wind to blow through her hair while she basked in the warmth of the sun. He internally cursed himself for being so focused on Weiss before initiation that he didn't notice how beautiful this girl who had encouraged him was. Fucking idiot, that was him. He shook his head before his mind could go any further with that line of thought. He had to focus on the task at hand.

"Good news." He said as he walked up to Pyrrha, who had forgone a disguise this time in favor of her combat gear, "Blake was sighted in the commercial district this morning, but it sounds like there was a faunus guy with her."

"Is that a problem?" Pyrrha asked as they resumed walking.

"Well, that all depends on her." Jaune said, "I don't think it's too much to assume she spent some time in the White Fang, considering her parentage, right?" Pyrrha nodded. "But then the question becomes more complicated. How long was she in? What kind of connections did she make in that time? How did she part ways with the Fang? If she left on bad terms, is it possible that some of those former connections would come after her for revenge?" he sighed. "There's just so many variables to consider."

"You're awfully worried about her." Pyrrha said, her voice a little concerned.

"When a terrorist group with a predilection toward extreme violence is involved, can you blame me?"

"I guess not…"

A thought entered Jaune's mind, almost unbidden. "Hey, Pyr?"

"Hmm?" Pyrrha looked at him.

"I know this is kinda out of left field, but would you like to grab something to eat once we finish here? Just the two of us?"

Pyrrha froze in place. "Just the two of us? You mean, like a date?"

Jaune's eyes widened. Crap, that is what he had suggested, wasn't it? "Y-yeah, I suppose it would be, wouldn't it? B-but only if you want to!"

Relief washed over him when Pyrrha's face split in a massively beautiful smile.

"Jaune, I would love to!"

"Great!" Jaune said with a small chuckle. "How does seafood sound? We're headed toward the docks anyway, and I know a little place that makes the best stuff."

"That sounds grand!"

Jaune smiled as he took his place in between Pyrrha and the street, while Pyrrha happily clung to his arm, apparently too giddy to realize just how she might look if there were more people around. Briefly, Jaune wondered where the idea to ask Pyrrha out, much less the confidence to do so, came from. Sure, he could admit that he was attracted to Pyrrha. You had to be blind or just plain uninterested not to be.

But he knew himself. He was absolute garbage when it came to talking to women in any form of romantic manner. Not even seven sisters plus a twin was able to change that. Once he had seen just how many beautiful women were attending Beacon with him, he was sure that he would have to drop a line to Joan at some point if he ever wanted to make some kind of headway.

'I want to think it's just that I'm getting better at this, but luck sounds a lot more plausible.' He thought to himself as Pyrrha and he continued their trek toward the sea.

Little did he know that, within the Warp, a golden form looked down upon him with a small grin on his face.

"**There we go. Now, get me some grandkids, wolf-boy."**

XX

**I don't know if you guys could tell or not, but I suck balls at writing romance. I know I wanted this to have an Arkos pairing, and I had to get the ball rolling somehow. Jaune asking Pyrrha out is great, but why would he just do it out of the blue when he was never able to do it in canon?**

**Basically, I realized I had written myself into a hole and the only way out I could think of was Big E. I mean, he's already influenced four Remnants (what I call the people of Remnant) already, what's a fifth?**


	12. Chapter 12

**I'M BA-AAACK!**

***insert Undisputed Era entrance music***

Wolves of Remnant

Chapter 12

Glynda's heels clicked as she walked down the halls of Beacon Academy, her crop in one hand, her scroll tablet cradled in her other arm. She had received a message from Dr. Oobleck regarding the task she had given him, and seeing as Teams RWBY and JNPR were out for the day, and there had been no reports as to the whereabouts of Ms. Belladonna, she decided to pay him a visit. She had given him her copies of Arc's journal in the hope that he could decipher it even slightly. At the mention of his coffee payment, he eagerly accepted the task.

That had been over a month and a half ago, and he had sent her no updates until now.

She found the eccentric history professor in his office, which was more of a mess than usual, which was saying something. He had seemingly created a sort of nest on his desk, consisting of large texts, scattered papers, and a cork board behind it covered in symbols that seemed to match what she had seen in the journal.

"Barty?" she asked hesitantly.

Oobleck spun around in his chair to face her, his hair mussed, his face sallow, and dark rings visible even behind his comically thick glasses.

"Ah, Glynda! Good of you to come so quickly! I only sent you the message a few minutes ago." He replied with a manic smile before going back to his work.

"You sent it to me yesterday…"

"Details. Come, come, you must see this."

"You said you had something for me." Glynda said as she made her way to the desk, careful not to step on any papers. She knew how much Barty liked his mess the way it was.

"Very much so! Please, take a seat. Coffee?"

"No, thank you." she replied, using her Semblance to levitate a stack of books and papers off one of the chairs set before the desk and let them hang in the air while she sat down. She really did love her Semblance sometimes. "So, what have you found?"

"Something amazing." Oobleck said with genuine joy. "The text in this book is double-layered, you see."

Glynda's face scrunched up in confusion. "How do you mean?"

Oobleck sat down and placed the copied pages of the journal before him. "These runes," pointed at the text, "what do you make of them?"

"My best guess would be Solitas." She shrugged. "Linguistics isn't really my forte, but I believe James told me about the old tongue once or twice when we were younger."

"And you would correct in your guess." Oobleck nodded, "However, you would be off by at least a few centuries. These runes predate the foundation of any of the Kingdoms. They are definitely Solitan, I have confirmed that, but the language itself is dead. I have confirmed that no individual on this world speaks this tongue. And that's just the _first _layer. Thankfully, these runes are part of an alphabet, which allowed me to translate them to the Common Tongue." He flipped to the first page of the journal. "Here is the original text of page one, and this," he pulled a sheet of paper from the cork board, "Is the translation."

"In what way?" Glynda said irritably, "It's just looks like more gibberish."

"Correct again, but only because it's yet another dead language!"

"Which one?"

"The original one. The First Language."

Glynda's look was disbelieving. "Barty, if you had nothing for me, you should have just said so in your message." She slammed the paper back on the table. "The First Language is a legend, a myth, nothing more."

"Isn't that exactly what we all said about Salem and the Maidens?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow. Glynda glared at him, but did not reply. "Myths are not stories that are untrue. Rather, they are tales that don't fit neatly into the historical record, which serve as the foundation to a culture. We both thought the same about the Maidens until Ozpin brought us in on it, and then he told us of Salem when Qrow brought Amber to us nearly dead. If I have learned anything by working for that man, it is that legends just might have the slightest kernel of truth to them.

"The legends say that the First Language was the basis for all other languages on Remnant, but was perverted over the millennia to where it is no longer recognizable. These past weeks, I have spent every moment of my free time translating every page of this book as best I can. Additionally, I have studied my translations and found patterns and commonalities with various languages and dialects from across Remnant and her history. Progress has been made, Glynda, and more is to come. We need only be patient and diligent."

Glynda gave Oobleck a hard look before closing hers eyes and sighing. "Very well, Barty. It would be hypocritical of me to not practice what we preach, but I must stress how important this is. I have a feeling about Mr. Arc that I can't quite place, and I really do not like that. If anything can be gleaned from his dream journal, I want to know it. I can arrange another delivery of your favorite blend if it will speed things up."

"Oh, no need for that, Glynda." Oobleck smiled as he turned back to the cork board. "You have given me a true challenge of my abilities. That is payment enough."

XX

"I think I may have messed up on my timing." Jaune said as he looked from the darkened sky to his Scroll, which read 9:47 at night.

After finishing their patrol along the river shortly after noon, they reported their findings to Ruby and went about their date, deciding it to be officially one about halfway through lunch. Afterwards, they decided to make a day of it. They went to the park for a walk, took a break at a café, and decided to top it off with a movie they had both wanted to see before heading back to Beacon, and likely suffering through an interrogation at the hands of Nora.

"Maybe just a little." Pyrrha agreed with a wince. "It was still a good movie, though."

"Oh, no doubt." Jaune eagerly agreed. "I never pegged you to be a fan of Kaiju movies, Pyr."

"Even champions are allowed a few guilty pleasures." She said primly as they walked along the waterfront. "Truth be told though, I became a fan at a young age, thanks to my father. I also liked that there was no romantic subplot either. I cant help but hate those." They walked in silence for a while, walking past a dock before Pyrrha stopped, making Jaune turn to face her. "So, does this make us, like, together-together?"

Jaune's mouth opened to answer, only for it to close as he frowned.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, worried, "Jaune, what's wrong?"

"Blonde monkey tail…" he muttered before taking off past her. They ran to the gate of the docks, only to find it hanging open slightly.

"Something's not right." Jaune whispered. "Where are the guards?"

"Look!" Pyrrha whispered, pointing ahead of him. He followed her finger, to see a boy with platinum blonde hair, a white shirt, blue cargo shorts and a monkey tail climbing up a drain pipe up onto the roof of one of the warehouses within the complex.

"I need to contact Ruby. We might have found Blake." Jaune said as he pulled out his Scroll and typed up a message for Ruby.

"What's our next move?" Pyrrha asked, strapping Akoúo̱ to her wrist.

"Scouting." Jaune replied, putting his Scroll away. "We'll take a look around and try to find a way up on that roof."

"With Blake's hearing, there's no way she won't hear us coming."

"I'm working on that." Jaune replied as he slowly pushed open the gate to the dock. It was small, in his opinion; a singular wharf next to a storage area maybe a hundred or so feet long, which was currently covered in containers bearing the snowflake emblem of the SDC, and a single large warehouse. He guessed it must be some kind of private SDC-owned dock. Seeing no way up on the side of the warehouse facing the containers, Jaune decided to circle around to the back with Pyrrha following his lead, both with their weapons drawn.

They had reached the rear of the warehouse, when a strange scent crossed Jaune's path, his fist shooting up as signal for a halt. He inhaled deeply and took in the scent: ice cream mixed in with blood and nicotine-laced smoke. The scent came from his right, among a collection of unused containers and he leveled his sword at them.

"I know you're there." he called out, "Show yourself."

There was a shattering of glass and a girl appeared before them, leaning against one of the containers. A very familiar girl to Jaune.

"I know you…" he said, lowering his sword somewhat. "You're with that Greco guy who helped me get into Beacon, but I can't quite place the name…"

The girl made a dramatic gesture as if she had been stabbed in the chest, before simply signing the letters N, E, O in Common Sign Language.

"Neo! Fuck, that's right. Sorry." He looked around suspiciously. "I take it Greco's around here somewhere as well?"

"_His name is Roman actually."_

"Hm, noted." Jaune hummed.

"Uh, Jaune? Can you actually understand her?" Pyrrha asked, a little annoyed at being left out entirely.

"Oh, yeah. I took CSL back in- Wait a minute. Roman? As in Roman Torchwick?" Neo smiled smugly and nodded. "Aw, crapbaskets." Neo nodded again.

From the other side of the warehouse, they saw a Bullhead pull up and land near the containers. They could faintly hear Roman shouting orders.

"So, you're after the Dust then." Jaune asked, tightening his grip on Crocea Mors and his Axe. Neo nodded. "Why? Creating a Dust shortage doesn't seem good for business on your end, so what's the real end game?"

Neo shrugged. _"Boss hasn't old me just yet. All I know is I'm supposed to keep this job running smoothly."_

"And that makes us a problem, doesn't it?" Pyrrha piped up.

"Brothers of the White Fang! Why are you aiding this scum?" They heard Blake yell from the other side of the warehouse.

Jaune sighed, hanging his arms and head. "Dammit, Blake."

"_Welp, that's my cue."_ Neo signed before she charged Jaune, her parasol aiming for his throat.

He didn't think much of it, and merely shifted into a guard. Then he saw the blade extend from the tip of the umbrella. His eyes widened, sensing that the end was near. The tried to get out of the way, to block the hit, but saw that not only was he too slow, but Neo was too close, and growing closer by the microsecond.

Suddenly, he felt the entire world shift as his body was hurled out of the way of Neo's thrust. He landed a few feet away from the ice cream-themed girl and looked up. Pyrrha stood where she had been, her hands glowing black. Right, her Semblance. She must have seen the attack coming and used it to push him out of the way.

"Thanks, Pyr. I owe you another one." He grunted as he climbed to his feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked with worry, while Neo tried to puzzle together what had happened.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The pair walked around to face Neo side-by-side, while the little mute just stared at them. "This one's a trickster, we need to be careful."

Pyrrha looked to him. "Maneuver 6?" she asked.

Jaune considered the proposal for a moment. "Maneuver 6." He agreed, tapping her left thigh with his sword. "Go!"

They raced at Neo, Pyrrha taking the lead, her shield raised and xyphos at the ready to strike. Neo kicked off her shield to gain distance, but Pyrrha closed the distance and bombarded her with slashes from Milo. She waited for Neo to counter, blocked the blow from her parasol, and twisted away to the left. Neo was prepared to turn and follow, but found Crocea Mors slashing down at her head. She parried, but then the axe came in from the side, chainsaw blades roaring and a fine mist forming around the head.

Her eyes widened slightly, and she bent backwards into a flip, her Aura channeled into her foot as she kicked the head up and away from her as she went. Jaune grinned as he regrouped with Pyrrha.

"Tricky little bugger." He said, half-frustrated, half-amused.

Neo scowled as she shattered the small amount of ice that had formed on the tip of her boot, her entire form shattering with her.

"Shit." Jaune growled, taking up a guard, back to back with Pyrrha. He inhaled, but Neo's scent was hard to pinpoint. It was mingling with Pyrrha's scent and the smell of gunfire coming from the other side of the docks. Jaune frowned. If he could smell gun smoke from Blake's fight, that means they were downwind of it-

Jaune's thoughts were interrupted as he felt a blow to the back of his head that forced him forwards, away from Pyrrha.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried, hearing her partner get hurt behind her, only to feel a sharp blow to her lower back force her forwards as well. They turned to Neo standing where they had been, a smug smile on her face.

"Did you kick me in the neck?!" he asked, surprised.

Neo's grin disappeared as she pointed at her foot, then rubbed her thumb against her index and middle fingers.

"Who the fuck wears expensive clothes in a fi- " Jaune was suddenly of reminded of Coco. "Oh, fuck it. Let's go!" he charged Neo and unleashed a barrage of attacks against her. Neo parried what she could, and dodged everything else. Jaune quickly realized she wasn't holding anything back this time. Even when Pyrrha got involved, Neo barely missed a beat.

She flipped away after a combined assault from Jaune and Pyrrha and stood about five feet away, her parasol deployed and resting on one shoulder.

"Okay, so at what point, did we lose control here?" Pyrrha asked, panting.

"I don't think we ever had it, Pyr." Jaune replied. And that was all he could say before he felt a knee impact with his chin, followed by an Aura-infused kick to his chest that sent him flying backwards into a container. He landed with such force that the container actually bent inward, leaving him hanging unconscious in a metal harness.

And Pyrrha saw red.

XX

"**Awaken…"**

Jaune groaned. "Five more minutes, Dad."

"**Awaken, my son. Awaken… Wolf King."**

Jaune's eyes shot open at the title, sleep all but forgotten to him. He found himself in a snowy plain, laying on his back, his nudity not even registering. He looked up and saw a golden light hovering above him. He was beginning to feel that he recognized the voice.

"**It is time, my son. Remember who you are."**

Jaune shook his head, confused. "I am Jaune Arc, son of Joseph and Suzie, twin of Joan."

The light came down to his level and resolved into the form of a man with long black hair in shining golden armor. He took Jaune's head in his hands and closed his eyes.

He opened them to reveal they were shining pure white. **"Remember!"**

Images flooded Jaune's mind, all of them he recognized as his dreams, but he now understood all of them. The Siege of Dulan, The Night of the Wolf, the Allaxes Nebula, The Battle of Trisolian. The Burning of Prospero. Jaune screamed as the memories flooded into him, grasping his head and squatting in pain.

"**Now, who are you?" **the figure asked when the screams ceased.

Panting, Jaune rose, though he kept his head down.

"I… am Jaune Arc, son of Joseph and Suzie, twin of Joan." He looked up at the golden figure with burning eyes. "I am the Wolf King Leman Russ reborn, Primarch of the VI Legion Astartes, son of the Emperor of Mankind, and His Executioner."

XX

Neo smiled smugly at the beaten girl before her. She knew she was Pyrrha Nikos, of course, knew from the moment she saw that long, fiery hair, and she knew the girl would be a hell of a good fight. And she had been at the start, especially when she double-teamed with her partner. But, Neo knew that kind of fight wasn't sustainable, so she did the only sensible thing and got rid of the easiest target possible, Jaune.

Apparently, the Invincible Girl took exception to that, and resumed her assault, but this time, she was different. She was more ferocious, her eyes wide with rage and Neo could swear she saw tears running down her cheeks. Obviously, this also meant that she had abandoned technique all together. True, Neo had been caught off guard at first, but she soon found her rhythm again, and began her usual tactic of evasion and counter-attacking. The girl let her Aura take the hits, preferring to use her shield as an extra weapon rather than what it was designed for, and that ultimately sealed her fate, and led to her on her hands and knees before the mute girl. She was considering the pros and cons of taking her out right there, when she heard a dull growling coming from Roman's former client.

Looking over, she saw the boy was practically glowing with white Aura. His fists wrapped tight around his weapons, he wrenched his arms free from the metal container until he was on his feet again. A chill went up Neo's spine just looking at him, and she gave him her full attention, keeping her parasol in a loose guard.

"You really fucked up now." She heard him growl, and was stunned when he looked at her with a feral look in his eyes. "Nobody messes with my girlfriend!"

XX

Channeling his Aura into his legs, Jaune launched himself at Neo, his weapons brought around for a massive assault against this fool who dared harm his mate (Wait a minute, mate? He meant girlfriend. Wait,_ girlfriend?!_) He almost moved faster than Neo could track, and the girl barely had time to bring her parasol up to defend herself before Crocea Mors slashed down at her, Helwinter shortly behind. Helwinter, yes, that was a perfect name for his new weapon.

The fury of his initial attack weakened her arms, leaving evasion as her only hope of staying alive. He slashed and hacked at her, but for every move he made, she dodged until finally she kicked off his blade to gain some distance.

He growled and took up a feral attack stance, readying himself for another round.

"Neo!" a voice called from above. Looking up, the pair saw Roman Torchwick hanging out of an airship, holding his cane by the end with the hook aimed at them.

Suddenly, the hook fired towards them, a line of thick wire attached to it. Without missing a beat, Neo flipped her parasol and caught the hook with her own, allowing herself to be carried away by the ship.

Jaune ran after her, stopping where she had stood mere moments before.

"Chicken shit!" he yelled at her. Neo responded by flipping him off as Roman pulled her into the back of the ship. As he watched his quarry fly off, he put his weapons away and snarled- at least until he heard a groan behind him.

"Pyrrha!" he yelled, snapping out of his rage and turning to his partner. Slowly, he helped her to her feet and made sure she was okay.

"Jaune, are you- mmm!" she was cut off when Jaune pulled her into a passionate kiss, one hand on her cheek, the other at the small of her back. Pyrrha's eyes closed as she leaned into the kiss and her arms snaked around his neck.

"Hey!" a voice interrupted their bliss and the couple broke apart to see Yang and Weiss at the corner of the warehouse.

"You two done over there or should we give you some more time?" Yang said with a shit-eating grin.

"Go find Blake!" he called out to them, "We'll be right there."

Weiss huffed as she pulled a giggling Yang away by the back of her jacket. Jaune and Pyrrha looked into each other's eyes, both of them blushing.

"Now, we're together-together." He said, making Pyrrha chuckle.

XX

The Void, Above the World of Remnant

That Same Evening

Logan Grimnar stood on the bridge of his flagship, looking out over the world below. It had been over an hour since every ship in the fleet near-simultaneously dropped back into real space, and he was waiting for his astropaths to confirm his suspicions. Until then, he simply busied himself studying what he could of the world below.

It was not unlike many worlds he had seen in his centuries in the Rout; four continental landmasses set in a planet spanning blue ocean, a mix of greens, tans, greys and white. If anything, from what he could see, the moon appeared to be the most interesting feature of the planet, was it's shattered moon. He had seen broken moons before, but those always had some form of life on them, mining it for some kind of resource. This satellite was completely absent of any form of technology, which in itself was somewhat telling of the planet's technological level.

"My Lord." Grimnar turned to see the captain of his ship standing at attention, "The reports are in from across the fleet. All Navigators report the same thing. The trail ends here, my lord."

"I suspected as much." Logan nodded. "Summon the Wolf Lords and the High Priests. We must discuss a plan of action as soon as possible."

"Yes, my Lord." The captain saluted crisply and hurried off.

Grimnar allowed himself a smile. They had done it! for ten thousand years, the Wolves had searched the length and breadth of the Imperium in search of their father, and now he limited it to but a single frontier world. It would take time to search the entire world for a single man, but he knew they had time to spend. All the time in the world…

* * *

**Haaaaahhh, it's good to be back. I am, however, sad that it took me putting RWBY Watches on an indefinite hiatus to make it more possible to do this, and even now, I'm worried about the Arkos stuff. Romance in general has never been of real interest to me. Honestly, whenever I see a romance scene in a tv show, or a movie, or a novel, I just roll my eyes and suppress a groan. **

**But here, I want to at least try my hand at it. It feels rushed, I know, but I promise I have a plan. Of sorts.**


End file.
